West Suffolk College (WSC) is celebrating a one-of-a-kind Ofsted rating after being graded ‘outstanding’ in every possible category.
The Bury St Edmunds-based college, which serves over 8.000 students, is one of only six colleges in the entire country to achieve the ‘outstanding’ judgement across the board, making it the highest-rated Further Education provider in the Eastern region.
In a glowing report published today, Ofsted inspectors said that students were “transformed” by their time at West Suffolk College, adding that they were “highly ambitious and positive about their next steps” as a result of studying there.
The report further praised the college, which has several sites across East Anglia, for providing “state-of-the-art, industry-standard resources”, enabling students to “develop the skills they need to be highly confident and successful in the professional setting”.
WSC has placed significant investment into the quality of its facilities in recent years, which includes the opening of an award-winning £2m Extended Reality (XR) Lab in Bury St Edmunds, along with a specialist engineering training centre in Chatteris. The report noted that “staff work closely with employers to enable students and apprentices to gain the high-quality practical skills, knowledge and confidence that they need to move on to employment”, highlighting the college’s efforts to bridge the gap between education and industry.
The latest Ofsted grading unlocks a unique treble achievement for Eastern Education Group, which operates two other ‘outstanding’ colleges in the region; One Sixth Form College in Ipswich, and Abbeygate Sixth Form College in Bury St Edmunds.
Dr Nikos Savvas, CEO of Eastern Education Group, said: “We believe that we are the only college group in the country to have undergone three inspections across three different locations in just under three years - and achieved three outstanding results. It is a credit to everyone who works for Eastern Education Group.”
Reflecting on West Suffolk College’s extraordinary Ofsted rating, Dr Savvas said: “I am so glad that Ofsted has recognised what I see every day. An amazing, talented, hardworking, selfless, and dedicated group of professionals, who transform our students’ lives for the better, day in day out. Ofsted commented that in every conversation, every classroom, and every interaction they had, they saw leaders ambitious for their students, their college, and their community!”
Dr Savvas continued “We now have a superb university campus, world-class facilities, and have recently welcomed five SEND schools, along with Exning Primary School, to our group.
We are constantly striving to improve, serve our community, and provide the best education in the country for our students.”
In terms of the report itself, West Suffolk College achieved a clean sweep of top marks across all of Ofsted’s provision types and key judgements, including skills, the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, education programmes for young people, adult learning programmes, apprenticeships and provision for learners with high needs.
Expressing his pride for his staff and students, Dr Savvas said: “The Ofsted report is a tremendous account of everything we stand for in terms of dedicating ourselves to ensuring that everyone we support has the best education.”
The news is well-timed for West Suffolk College, which is preparing to celebrate its 100th anniversary next year. The prestigious Ofsted rating is said to make the centenary year “even more special”, with Dr Savvas adding that “2025 will be a fantastic opportunity to celebrate our college over the years and its transformational power over the community it serves."
Chair of Governors, Elton D’Souza, said: “This fantastic result is the culmination of a herculean team effort by students, staff, and our partners working together. Ofsted inspectors were overwhelmed by what they experienced at West Suffolk College during the inspection. The Governors take immense pride that Eastern Education Group now has three Outstanding Colleges in One Sixth Form College, Abbeygate Sixth Form College and West Suffolk College. Therefore, over half the 16–18-year-old students in Suffolk, more than 2,000 apprentices, and thousands of adults will study at one of our outstanding colleges and receive some of the best education in the country.”
In the report, Ofsted stated: “Students and apprentices thrive in the purposeful and calm environment at the college. They are polite, respectful of each other and their staff and motivated highly to succeed. They are rightly very proud to be members of the college community.”
Other highlights in the report stated the following
- Students make exceptional progress, developing resilience, positive behaviour and confidence
- Leaders have a strong vision to promote social mobility through high quality training
- Students and apprentices thrive and benefit from state of the art, industry standard resources
- Staff work closely with employers and stakeholders to enable students to gain high quality practical skills, knowledge and confidence
- Governors have a broad and relevant skill set
- The lives of very many adults are transformed by their time at the college
- Students with high needs feel valued and respected
- Apprentices quickly develop knowledge and skills. As a result of their training they bring expertise to their workplace
- The college makes a strong contribution to meeting skills needs
- Leaders have a strong vision and seek to work with groups to ensure no one is left behind
- Staff work closely with charities
- The arrangements for safeguarding are effective
Richard Bridgman, owner of Warren Services, said: “I’m a long-term supporter of the college and I know how hard Nikos and his team work to ensure no one gets left behind. This outstanding result is very well deserved. I believe that West Suffolk College and Eastern Education Group are a credit to the town, the region and the country. We are proud to have worked with them over a period of many years and we would recommend that others reach out and do the same. Huge congratulations to everyone.”