Senior staff at Exeter College have been sharing the story of their recent pilot Ofsted experience with colleagues from across the country. The Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) Conference, delivered as part of the Prepared for Inspection offer from LSIS titled “A Whole Organisational Approach to Excellence – Exeter College's Journey” was held at the Rougemont Hotel in Exeter and attracted over 120 delegates from across the Further Education sector.

In March, Exeter College was the first college in the country to be tested in a 'no-notice' inspection process being piloted by Ofsted. The college was graded 'Outstanding' overall and was the first college to receive an outstanding grade for Teaching and Learning for two years. Keen to hear about the experience first-hand, delegates travelled from as far afield as Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Liverpool.

Exeter College Principal, Richard Atkins said: “The conference was an opportunity for us to share with other providers the improvements and investments we have made to ensure our students' teaching, learning and development is at the forefront of everything we do. We were able to highlight to others the impact that our Learner Voice, Tutorial programme and wide range of support services has on the learner experience and how our focus on ensuring each student is studying the right course for them, ensures that they reach their potential and get great results.”

After hearing about the inspection, delegates had the opportunity to attend workshops run by staff from Exeter College before putting their questions to a panel. Anne Duke, Quality Improvement Manager at Sussex Downs College in Eastbourne found the conference useful: “It's been a fantastic day and Exeter College have been very generous in sharing details of their approach for us to consider how we can adapt it for our own colleges. They are encouraging innovation and have given me some great practical ideas.”

Elaine Nicholls, Quality Improvement Manager at Liverpool Community College agreed: “It was so nice to have someone talking honestly and genuinely about their own experiences first hand. Exeter College have obviously worked really hard and deserved to get recognition for it. It was clear to me that they had a whole college approach and worked as a team and demonstrated to me that staff here feel valued and have an opportunity to participate in decisions.”

Debbie Farley, LSIS Regional Development Manager for the South West co-ordinated the event with John Laramy from Exeter College. She said: “This partnership event with Exeter College has been a huge success with attendees from across the FE and Skills sector; the messages are relevant to all providers, not just to colleges.

“Many colleagues travelled far to hear the key messages from Exeter and the key theme running throughout the day and which was mirrored in the evaluations from the event was the “journey to outstanding” and the need for a whole organisational approach to Excellence as modeled by Exeter College.

“LSIS has recently conducted an audit of its work and we found that one of the three areas that we are providing support is improving the quality of the sector, of which the conference at Exeter College is an example.”