CRAVEN College has been told by Ofsted it needs to improve.

The Skipton- based college, previously graded 'good', was marked as 'requires  improvement' in overall effectiveness following a four day visit by Ofsted inspectors at the end of February.

The college, said by Ofsted to have had 'significant turbulence' in its leadership in the last five years is currently led by Anita Lall, following the departure last year of its previous principal Lindsey Johnson who joined the college in 2020, but had been absent for several months.

Ofsted criticises the college for making 'a limited contribution to meeting skills needs' and for poor attendance of learners.

On a positive side, learners and apprentices feel welcome in the college and appreciate the 'calm and inclusive environment' while leaders are taking 'substantial steps' in making improvements.

The team of 10 inspectors graded the college as requiring improvement, the second lowest above inadequate, in areas of leadership and management, education programmes for young people and behaviour and attitudes.

A good rating was however given to the other five areas, the quality of education, personal development, adult learning, apprenticeships and provision for learners with high needs.

At the time of the inspection, there were 1,267 students on programmes at the college for young people, including 54 doing A -levels, 495 adult learners, and 487 apprentices.

The report states: "Over the last five years, there has been significant turbulence in the leadership of the college. The current senior leadership team, appointed in the last 18 months, has established stability and identified a clear path to make necessary improvements. Leaders have taken substantial steps in improving the quality of education across the provision, however, they recognise that their strategic and cultural changes have not fully permeated throughout the organisation."

Ofsted says in order to improve the college needs to maintain the momentum of rapid improvement across all curriculum areas and rapidly improve learners attendance on study programmes.

It needs to ensure that strategic developments are planned and implemented quickly, and are fully communicated to staff, and finally to ensure staff receive effective support to allow them to manage their workloads.

The report states: "Experienced and astute governors bring valuable skills to the college board, including in education, finance and local government. They have been instrumental in holding leaders to account and have taken decisive action over the last 18 months to protect the college during a time of turbulence. They provide continuous support and challenge to leaders, asking shrewd and pertinent questions as new processes are embedded and ensuring that agreed strategic goals remain in clear sight."

Anita Lall, interim principal and chief executive at Craven College, said: “We welcome Ofsted’s findings in their recent inspection report of the college, as these allow us to continuously improve and build on our strengths. Whilst the overall grades are not what we wanted or hoped for, the report acknowledges the journey the college has been on recently and highlights the steps we are already taking to address the challenges identified.

"Whilst we are committed to making those improvements, we are proud the report found that our quality of education, apprenticeships, adult learning programme, provision for learners with high needs and personal development for students were graded as ‘good’.

"We would like to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful staff and students for all their hard work and commitment and to extend our thanks to our community partners and stakeholders who supported the college during the inspection and continue to do so.

"We are dedicated to ensuring all our students benefit from a positive learning experience at our college, preparing them for the next steps in their careers and we will continue our journey to provide quality education to our communities.”