Canterbury College has been served with a third successive 'requiring improvement' assessment by Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education) inspectors.

They say progress is needed in the teaching of maths and English and the outcomes for students.

They found information and communication technology to be "inadequate" and called for standards to be raised in business and admin, public services, engineering, construction, hair and beauty therapy and in the leadership and management of the college.

But they assessed visual arts and safeguarding as "outstanding". They also praised the college's effort and success in supporting students and finding them employment.

Inspectors acknowledged that many of the college's learners face "challenging personal circumstances" and come from areas of high deprivation and enrol with "few aspirations and a lack of self-belief".

It is the third time the college has received an overall "requiring improvement" grading by Ofsted which would normally trigger intervention by trouble-shooting education experts.

But principal Alison Clarke says the first in 2012 did not count because Ofsted was piloting a new inspection regime which the college was helping inspectors test the framework.

She admitted the latest grading, published today, was “disappointing” but insists the next inspection will be better, following the introduction of new strategies, a management shake-up, staff development and the employment of new teaching staff.

She said: "It is disappointing but I and the whole team at the college felt Ofsted were very clear that we had made improvements.

“So while the overall grades haven’t changed, they should be set in the context of the national picture where a lot of colleges have actually been downgraded in the latest, more rigorous inspection round.

“In the feedback, the inspector said he thought the visit had come two or three months too early for us, because we were still being assessed against last year’s data.

“When you read the detail in the report, there’s a huge amount about the significant improvements we have made.

“Our weakest area is ICT which we had already identified as needing improvement. We now have a new manager and have an action plan in place which inspectors noted was focussed and would bring about the improvements.

“Attendance in English and maths has been highlighted, but we have 6,000 students studying those subjects which is a huge volume and it reflects that.

"Of those this year, we have 500 students with a reading age of five to 11 and 1,200 with a reading age of 11 to 14, so we are often starting from a very low base."

She added: “Canterbury College is the 12th largest in the country for 16 to 18-year-old provision and we have the best level of progression by our students and more go onto university than all the colleges in Kent.

“It’s not all perfect but there are a lot of points in the inspection which the report acknowledges will bring about the improvements.”