Good news for FE education in Beds and Northants

A “Good” Ofsted grade for The Bedford College Group is great news for Further Education in the region.

The news is especially welcomed in Northamptonshire where Tresham College, now part of the Group, had previously been graded as “Inadequate” by Ofsted. The merger which took place in August 2017, has been followed by some robust changes which have led to improved standards, performances and investment across the three campuses Kettering, Corby and Wellingborough.

Ian Pryce CBE, Principal and CEO of Bedford College for two decades, and who led the development into the Group, said:

“This is a fantastic inspection result. Staff at Tresham have risen to the challenge and can now claim it is a very good college. Just as pleasing, Bedford College has improved again on its previous inspection.

We can now rightly say we are a very strong group of colleges

We are grateful for the support of SEMLEP who have invested in our redevelopment of the Wellingborough campus which will bring new life into the town centre and in our multi-million advanced engineering centre in Bedford which is a beacon for technology training.

Our Group was one of the first colleges to make the grade under the new education inspection framework which is again tribute to our senior management team and staff who had to set show the way.”

The Bedford College Group includes Bedford College, National College for Motorsport, Shuttleworth College, The Bedford Sixth Form and Tresham College.

You can view the full Ofsted report here: https://files.api.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50120181

The Bedford College Group Ofsted Report
Background – This is the first full Ofsted inspection for The Bedford College Group, before this Bedford College had been inspected in March 2014 and graded Good whilst Tresham College had been graded inadequate in June 2016, leading to the merger in August 2017. The Bedford College Group is one of the first FE colleges to have been inspected under the new education inspection framework from 23-26th September 2019. The Ofsted Inspection Report 2019 campaign is based around its publication by the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills on 28th or 29th October 2019 that rates the overall effectiveness of the Group as Good. The report will be available online via Ofsted and will be shared online as a link on the Group websites via a dedicated news page.