Minutes of Quality Standards and Curriculum Committee 29 September 2025

The Committee took the opportunity to welcome E. Chanda as the newly-elected 16 – 19 Student Governor and E. Musgrove, the newly-appointed co-opted committee member, their first meeting of the Committee.
Each person present introduced themselves and were welcomed to the first meeting of the academic year.

40/25. Election of Chair of the Committee

Having been proposed by R. Harrison and seconded by J. Hoyland, it was

Resolved: That J. Barratt be appointed Chair of the Committee.

J. Barratt in the Chair.

41/25. Appointment of Vice Chair of the Committee

Having been proposed by R. Harrison and seconded by A Prichard, J. Vernon was appointed Vice Chair of the Committee.

42/25. Declarations of Interest

No pecuniary interests were declared.

The VP, Q, A & I declared an interest in having a child who was now a student at the college.

43/25. Minutes – 30 June 2025 (Appendix – Agenda Item 5)

Resolved: That the Minutes of the meeting held on 30 June 2025, were approved as a true record.

44/25. Matters Arising from the Minutes

None.

45/25. Committee Briefing – Teaching & Learning Priorities 2025 - 26

The VP, Q, A & I presented a strategic briefing to the Committee on the college’s teaching and learning priorities for 2025 – 26.

The Committee reviewed the college’s teacher CPD Matrix, which set out the key themes for teachers’ development for the year, including –

• • • Student engagement, with a focus on attendance
    • Independent study
    • Ai – resource production and feedback, building on the framework established in 2024 – 25.

These themes would be rolled out across the whole college as part of the Annual Teacher Development Day on 23 October 2025 and embedded through the Professional Exchange Meetings (PEMs), 1:1 and peer collaboration with the Learning Enhancement Team (LETS) using Rosenshine’s 17 Principles of Effective Instruction.

The D - Q, T & LE explained the Rosenshine Principles and why this framework was well-suited to supporting the college’s teachers, meeting the college’s objectives to provide high quality teaching and learning.

The Committee also reviewed the quality, teaching and learning activities being conducted throughout the year, including –

• • • Course Review Meetings which were currently being conducted across every provision area. In response to a question, SLT officers present explained the thoroughness of the process and how actions arising were fed into the college’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QuEP) by the respective teams, ensuring ownership and accountability. These reviews were conducted throughout the college early in the academic year, to ensure actions were created and addressed at the earliest opportunity, to support improving the student experience.
    • The programme of early intervention by the LETS Team based on drops in 2024/25 outcomes.
    • Quality Enhancement Plans (QEP) fed into Professional Exchange Meetings (PEM).
    • Progress Grade Reviews; the first being 3 – 7 November 2025, with Quality Reviews commencing 24 November 2025.

The Committee also received a verbal briefing on the new OFSTED Inspection Framework.

• • • Ofsted had published and updated a number of documents that set out its approach to inspection after a consultation this year.
    • The college would receive a report card following an inspection, after a moderation period. The report card would include a grade for each evaluation area. Areas would be inspected on a 5-point scale.
    • These grades have been renamed since the consultation proposals and were:
      • Exceptional
      • Strong standard
      • Expected standard
      • Needs attention
      • Urgent improvement
      • For the safeguarding area, the college would receive a judgement of ‘met’ or ‘not met’ instead of a grade.
    • Alongside the grade, the college would receive a short narrative explanation that described the provision and explained how the college reached that grade. This would allow parents, carers and others to get a more detailed picture of the college.
    • The new framework had an increased focus on inclusion, including a new evaluation area. This area focused on evaluating whether the college was identifying and offering high-quality support for all pupils.
    • Inspectors would no longer carry out deep dives of specific curriculum areas.

46/25. Outcomes Summary 2024 – 25 (Appendix, Agenda Item 7)

The Committee reviewed a report (previously circulated) setting out the key successes, outcomes and initial areas for improvement from the 2024/25 academic year, with respect to -

• • • Vocational Provision
    • Academic Provision
    • Apprenticeship provision
    • Higher Education

The following positive achievements were recognised -

• • • GCSE English & Maths:
      The college had achieved its best-ever results in November 2024 resits, with 198 Grade 4+ passes. Summer 2025 results exceeded national benchmarks, with English at 50.5% (vs. 20.9%) and Maths at 30.7% (vs. 17.1%).
    • T Levels:
      The college had demonstrated exceptional performance in this area. The risk of the "unknown" nature of T Level grading, particularly with 100+ Year 2 T Level students, had failed to materialise. First-year results showed a 97% pass rate (vs. 91.4% nationally), with 82% achieving Distinction/Merit and 27% Distinction grades. Construction and Business T Levels had performed exceptionally well.
    • BTEC & NCFE Diplomas:
      BTEC Extended Diplomas had a 99% pass rate and 85% high grades. NCFE Diplomas saw 39% Distinction* achievements, with 61% achieving Distinction*/Distinction.
    • Stakeholder Engagement:
      Strong employer involvement through Skills Advisory Boards, industry placements (262 students) and work experience (1,200 students). The college had contributed significantly to regional skills initiatives and secured £688K in funding.
    • Academic Courses:
      The A Level pass rate stood at 98%, with high grades increasing to 48.8%. Value Added (VA) progress was +0.11, placing the college in the top 20–30% nationally. Notable successes were seen in Fine Art, Computing, Maths, and Design Technology. High success rate for early university applicants (18/19 offers accepted).
    • Higher Education:
      Despite sector-wide recruitment challenges, retention improved to 93%. The college was a leading contributor to the Modular Accelerator Programme and maintained strong partnerships with Staffordshire and Keele Universities.
    • Apprenticeships:
      914 apprentices were on programme. Health, Leisure and Retail sectors performed above national averages. The college maintained a 4-star employer rating and met all accountability measures.
    • Destinations:
      97.5% of collected destinations were positive. 32.3% progressed to HE, 36.2% to FE, and 17.6% into employment.

The college had identified the following areas for further improvement –

• • • Recruitment in Higher Education remained below target.
    • Achievement rates in Engineering, Construction and Business apprenticeships were below national averages.
    • Retention and achievement in Art & Design required attention.
    • Essay-based subjects showed lower value-added scores.
    • Support for lower GScore cohorts needed enhancement.

The Committee AGREED that outcomes overall represented positive achievements and progress, reflecting the hard work and commitment of staff and students. The Committee was assured that the college had identified the areas to improve and had, through the early preparation of the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), already started to address interventions; this put the college in a good position to make further improvements, which the Committee supported.

It AGREED to monitor progress through the 2025/26 QEP and that, going forward, reports to meetings should include updates on -

• • • The progress of the college’s strategies to improve apprenticeship achievement rates in underperforming sectors.
    • Interventions to support Art & Design students and improve retention.
    • Plans to address gaps in essay-based subjects and support lower-performing cohorts.
    • New approaches to boost HE recruitment, including partnership development and marketing initiatives.
    • Opportunities to attract funding.

In response to a question, the VPALs agreed that attendance and retention remained areas of strategic focus. The Committee agreed that the college should continue to expect more and improve further attendance and consequently, retention. This focus would be developed further going into 2025/26, through a variety of strategies across the college currently being developed as part of the Quality Review Process.

In response to a question on strategies to improve the Apprenticeship completion rate, the VP, Q, I & A explained that the new staffing structure would support the college’s ambition to enhance quality and capacity for growth. The achievement rates did not reflect the apprentice experience at the college and there were opportunities to grow apprenticeship provision by extending the range of apprenticeships offered and widening the geographical reach of the college’s provision. However, it was accepted that there was work to do to get apprentices to the achievement rates expected, particularly in Engineering, due to assessment capacity.

In response to a question on what strategies were being developed and implemented to reverse the trend of declining applicant numbers in Higher Education, the VP, V&TE explained that the college’s focus was on –

• • • Strengthening Outreach activities within schools (raising awareness, aspirations, ambitions and careers linked to HE achievement)
    • Strengthening Level 3 Internal Progression of students
    • Further collaboration with employers supporting upskilling of their workforce
    • Further collaboration with the local authority and Shropshire Chamber of Commerce
    • Promotion of Lifelong Learning Entitlement
    • Continuing to align the college’s product portfolio to address local skills shortages

The Committee recognised the importance of the college having the most effective strategic approach to grow HE provision and supported the initiatives presented.

47/25. Start of Term 2025 – 2026 – Verbal Briefings

The VP, S provided a verbal update on the key developments with respect to –
Safeguarding

• • • The annual all-staff Safeguarding and Prevent Duty update was being released and all Governors would be required to certify that they had completed the update, as well as certify that they have read Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025 (KCSiE).
    • Enrichment activities with a safeguarding and well-being focus had been held during enrolment and had been well received.
    • The Student Safeguarding Groups had been established.
      Prevent and EDI
    • The college’s priority was to address the wider issues on national identify raised by recent national issues. D. Blasczyk explained the college’s ‘Proud to Be’ campaign, designed to promote positive identity.
    • The Board would receive the Annual Safeguarding and Prevent Report at its meeting in December. This Report would include a briefing on the implications of the wider changing political landscape (for example, the recent UK riots) for the college and what it was doing to mitigate any risks
    • The programme of parent engagement events was underway, signposting to parents the range of support available to students.
    • Random bag searches would be undertaken across all sites.

ACTION: Safeguarding Annual Report and PREVNT Risk Assessment to 10/12/25 Board

48/25. Risk

The Committee considered the strategic risks relevant to its remit and agreed that they had been discussed within the meeting, particularly –

• • • QSC 1 - Risk of retention factor falling below target 95% for 16-19 students (or declining from year to year)
    • QSC 2 - Risk that Achievement rates fall below target or are declining
    • QSC 4 – Risk that Attendance falls below target levels
    • QSC 5 - Risk that Systems in place to support students who are struggling to achieve predicted grades are not effective.

Going forward, all committees would receive the latest relevant extracts from the ‘live’ 2025/26 Strategic Risk Register, to ensure they were kept up to date with risk mitigations and risk score movements.

49/25. Committee Work Plan 2025/26 (Governance Pack 1)

The Committee reviewed and AGREED the Draft Work Plan 2025/26 (previously circulated). 

50/25. Revised Committee Terms of Reference (Governance Pack 2)

The Committee’s Terms of Reference (previously circulated) had been amended to incorporate reference to the revised Education Inspection Framework. This was accepted by the Committee.

51/25. Date of Next Meeting – 01 December 2025 from 5.30 p.m. – Room 1a, London Road Campus.

The meeting concluded at 7.50 p.m.