UTC Warrington

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The college has developed and improved over its first three years. Leaders and other staff have worked together to ensure that it provides a good quality of education. Effective governance is a strength of the college.

Governors, who are also trustees, have skills and experience that help them to provide good challenge to leaders. Leaders know what the college does well and what it still needs to do to improve. They are prepared to address aspects that have not been fully successful, so that there is the best possible provision for pupils.

The curriculum is closely matched to the college's aim to prepare pupils to be ready for work in sci...ence, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) and other careers. A very low number of pupils leave the college without continuing their education or taking up apprenticeships. This indicates the college's success in this aspect.

Teaching is effective. However, sometimes it does not challenge pupils sufficiently, because : teachers' questions are not demanding enough. While, in general, the college is improving pupils' literacy successfully, it is less successful in helping pupils to use scientific and technical words and diagrams well.

The examination results achieved by pupils in the college's GCSE examinations for the first Year 11 group to finish their studies indicate that pupils made broadly similar progress to those in other schools. However, close comparison of such results to other schools is hard because pupils generally start at the college in Year 10. Pupils' progress is improving year by year.

Leadership of the sixth form is effective. Sixth-form students make a positive contribution to the college. As elsewhere in the college, teaching is well planned.

This leads to students' strong progress. Students do particularly well in technical subjects. They show strong commitment to preparing themselves for their future careers or for higher education.

The proportion leaving to take up higher apprenticeships is above the national average. Staff know the pupils and understand their needs well. Pupils behave well.

Safeguarding is strong. Pupils' attendance has risen since the college opened. However, it still remains below that seen in similar schools.

The additional funding available to support disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) helps these pupils to learn and make progress.

information about the progress of pupils during their time at a UTC. This is because

estimates of pupils' starting points are made three years before they typically join the college.

Their education during these three years is not under the control or influence of the UTC. In response, leaders have ensured that all new pupils are assessed shortly after they arrive at the college. This gives a baseline from which leaders can record pupils' attainment from the time that they start.

Leaders use a commercially available system that compares pupils' attainment and progress to a very large number of pupils across the country. This assessment provides a more relevant baseline estimate of pupils' previous learning than their success in key stage 2 national curriculum assessments. The college's first pupils to complete Year 11 and take their GCSE examinations did so in 2018.

The college's own data indicates that pupils in Year 11 in 2018 made similar overall progress from their starting points on arrival at the college to pupils across the country. Within this, pupils at the college typically made weaker progress in English and engineering than other subjects. The college's assessment of current pupils indicates that they are making stronger progress than those in Year 11 last year.

This is the case overall and in the separate subjects that they are studying, including English and engineering, and particularly so for pupils in Year 10. In addition, the college's own information shows that disadvantaged students are making stronger progress year by year. This means that the difference between their progress and that of others is reducing.

Further inspection evidence from examples of pupils' written work and observation of their learning, confirms that pupils in both Year 10 and Year 11 are making clear gains in their knowledge and skills. In line with its overall aims, the college does not restrict its view of pupils' outcomes to their success in formal qualifications in particular subjects. Leaders also place great importance on ensuring that pupils are well prepared to start a STEM-related or other career when they eventually leave the college.

In 2018, all pupils who left the college moved on to suitable continuing educational provision or employment, including apprenticeships. The proportion of pupils taking up apprenticeships and higher apprenticeships after leaving the college is significantly higher than that seen nationally. Leaders' analysis of pupils' learning led them to identify that some pupils and, in particular, some boys' outcomes, were being limited by their lack of confidence in reading.

Therefore, leaders introduced a number of activities planned to support pupils' reading. These included, for example, regular computer-based support and testing of pupils' reading comprehension, and weekly reading sessions for the whole college. Such activities have had marked success in building pupils' skills and confidence in reading.

This is seen in very different ways, ranging from the significant increases in pupils' reading ages to boys' evident pride in the way that they approached the GCSE English literature examination they sat on the second day of this inspection. Leaders' checks on the effectiveness of the alternative provision include checks on pupils' success in learning. The college ensures that pupils complete a similar range of GCSE and other qualifications to other pupils at the college.

This includes those who receive their education through online learning. Pupils' overall outcomes are strongly supported by the experience they have when attending alternative provision. 16 to 19 study programmes Good The quality of teaching in the sixth form is good.

As in the rest of the college, teachers are knowledgeable about their subjects and are respected by students. Leaders ensure that students develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours that will support them in their future studies or careers. The sixth-form curriculum is tightly focused on STEM subjects, in order to meet the needs of employers and students.

Leaders ensure that the sixth-form curriculum is evolving to meet these needs. For example, next year, leaders' plans for the new course in cyber security is in direct response to concerns regarding the risk of cybercrime expressed by employers in the nuclear industry. Students engage well in their studies.

They pay attention in class and behave respectfully towards their teachers and towards each other. Peer support is a common feature of sixth-form learning. Students' progress in academic and technical subjects has improved over the three years since the college opened.

In general, students who finished their sixth-form courses in 2018 made stronger progress in their technical subjects than in their A levels. The college's assessment information and assessed work in students' books and folders show that the progress that the majority of current students are making over time has become stronger across both the academic and technical subjects offered. Leaders have developed an inclusive culture.

Students are safe in their surroundings and happy in the courses that they study. Students in the sixth form appreciate their distinct, separate learning environment and more relaxed dress code, although most still choose to follow the college's overall uniform policy. Sixth-form students look smart and professional.

Leaders of the college ensure that the requirements of the 16 to 19 study programmes are met. They have greatly extended their partnerships with local and national employers to provide meaningful work experience for students. Leaders use industrial visits very effectively to enliven the curriculum and prepare students for life at work.

These build on students' existing knowledge and enhance their research and reporting skills. Students have access to a suitable programme of careers information, advice and guidance to support their next steps in education, training or employment. College leaders' good links with employers and universities mean that students have access to a range of information that help to inform their choices.

These include going on to further and higher education establishments, apprenticeships and employment. Nearly all students in 2018 progressed to further study, employment and training. This included students who took up higher apprenticeships and others who entered universities with demanding entry requirements.

The high quality of students' preparation for work in the real world, together with the college's close links with employers, has led to a small number of students deciding to move from the college to employment before their courses have finished. However, overall retention rates on sixth-form courses are high. A small number of students enter the sixth form without attaining a GCSE standard pass in English and/or mathematics.

The proportion who achieved the standard pass when they retook their examinations in 2018 was above the national average. School details Unique reference number 142899 Local authority Warrington Inspection number 10057909 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Technical School category University technical college Age range of pupils 14 to 19 Gender of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils in 16 to 19 study programmes Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 259 Of which, number on roll in 16 to 19 study programmes 114 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Mike Houghton Principal Lee Barber Telephone number 01925 737067 Website https://utcw.

co.uk Email address [email protected].

uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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