UTC Sheffield City Centre

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Increasingly, pupils have chosen to attend this school because they want to be engineers or digital designers.

The school understands its specialist character very well. Pupils understand that they are preparing for the workplace. High standards of appearance, conduct, work and responsibility are expected.

To a high degree, pupils meet these expectations.

Standards of behaviour are strong. Occasional low-level disruption is managed well.

Bullying is rare. Most pupils believe that school will sort it out if it happens. This is a school where pupils feel happy and safe.

Pupils study a curriculum which is tailored to achieve what it sets out to... do. Pupils are given the chance to study appropriate technical qualifications. They are provided with lots of opportunities to develop their employment skills.

To a very large extent, pupils are focused on the job in hand, which is to become skilled young people ready for the world of work. They benefit from close work-based links with a wide range of prestigious local employers in the school's specialist fields.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders' ambition for pupils who attend the school is high.

Leaders have put in place a well-thought-through curriculum. Built around the school's specialist subjects, the curriculum allows pupils to study a broad range of subjects. These include, for example, science, English literature, geography and art.

In the sixth form, the curriculum is also built around the specialisms. It provides opportunities to study a wider range of subjects, such as fine art and English language.

The quality of teaching is strong.

This is the case in key stages 3 and 4 and in the sixth form. Teachers know their subjects well. They teach with confidence and authority.

Teachers use subject-specific language, which is often quite complex and challenging. They expect their pupils to use this language too. Pupils are confident in how they write and talk about what they have learned.

Teachers use questions skilfully to check what pupils have understood. Leaders have started to make pupils' reading a priority, especially those who join the school with lower reading skills. Teachers think carefully about how they organise pupils' learning.

They use the information they get from pupils' assessments to plan next steps. As a result, pupils achieve well.

The standard of behaviour is good.

Attendance is improving. Leaders have created an environment where pupils are taught from the very start that the school is a workplace and that workplace standards are expected. Respectful relationships between staff and pupils support this expectation.

Students in the sixth form are impressive role models for the younger pupils. Inspectors saw a very small amount of low-level disruption in Year 9, but this was dealt with effectively by staff. A small number of parents and pupils think that there are times when pupils' behaviour falls short of the high standards expected.

There is a very good curriculum for pupils' personal development. This is the case in the sixth form as well as in key stages 3 and 4. In particular, pupils are taught employability skills in connection with the school's specialisms.

Pupils learn about different faiths, cultures and beliefs. They learn about democracy, for example through activities connected to the recent general election. The provision for pupils' careers education is very good.

There is a high rate of pupils who move on at the end of key stage 4 and at the end of the sixth form to a high-quality destination. For example, a substantial proportion of students in the sixth form progress to appropriately challenging apprenticeships and higher education in the areas associated with the school's specialisms.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported by the help they receive from teachers.

Pupils with SEND, including those in the sixth form, told inspectors that they feel that their needs are well met. Teachers' expectations of what pupils with SEND can achieve are as high as for all pupils. While a number of parents are very pleased with the support their child with SEND receives, a small number of parents think the school could do more.

The school is well led. Leaders at all levels have the skills necessary to back up their aspirations for the pupils who attend the school. The trust and the governing body have a strong strategic understanding of the school's role in its community.

A particular strength of the school is the relationships it has forged with local employers in the fields of the school's specialisms.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have ensured that the required checks on staff employed to work at the school are carried out.

The necessary links with external agencies are made, so that pupils' safeguarding needs are met. Leaders have made safeguarding a priority, for example, by making sure that pupils are taught about the risks of the internet. This includes being taught about the risks of being exploited by those who hold radical and extreme views about society.

Pupils learn about keeping safe around the very busy city centre location of the school.

Pupils told inspectors that bullying is rare. The very large majority of pupils think it is well handled when it happens.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Leaders have already started to make reading a priority. They have begun the process of training staff in how to support pupils who join the school with low reading ability. Leaders should continue the work to rapidly boost boys' reading skills on arrival at the school through a phonics-based approach.

. Pupils with SEND feel well supported in class. Evidence from their workbooks shows that teachers have high expectations of what they can achieve.

Pupils with SEND would achieve even more if the provision for SEND was included as part of the school's quality assurance processes. This should include the monitoring of the rates of exclusion for groups of pupils, including those with SEND, so that any patterns can be evaluated and action taken as a result. Leaders at all levels must ensure that the required SEND reviews with parents and pupils are completed in a timely fashion.

. Leaders' actions have led to an improving picture for rates of pupils' attendance, so that it is in line with the national averages. Now that pupils are actively choosing to attend the school, leaders should continue to focus on pupils' attendance and improve it further.