West Thames College is an ‘anchor institution in the community’

Tracy Aust, CEO and Principal of West Thames College, talks to Sarah Dale about the impact of the Budget on Further Education, the college’s exciting plans for 2025 and beyond, and why skills and collaboration with the community are integral to students’ success posteducation.

Students and staff alike have started 2025 on a high following the news that Ofsted has rated West Thames College Outstanding following its latest inspection.

As part of Further Education colleges’ full enhanced inspections, Ofsted cover in detail the college’s contribution to meeting skills needs and for this, West Thames was rated as Strong, which is the highest possible rating.

CEO and Principal Tracy Aust said: “We’re really pleased that Ofsted recognised the Strong contribution we make to meeting regional and national skills needs and in the Ofsted report, they highlight that we are:’proactive and respected partners who play a lead role in the local borough and across west London.’ They noted our ‘well -established, strong strategic partnerships’, and how well we ‘align the content of the curriculums closely to the regional and national skills needs’ and the fact that we codesign our courses with employers through structures such as our ‘effective employer advisory boards.’

“The feedback really showcases how well we work with our partners and stakeholders and it has only served to consolidate the fact that we are an important anchor institution, serving our fantastically diverse communities.

“Skills are a really important part of our core business as a college and through highly effective collaboration we are able to make a real difference.” We worked very closely on the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP), with a particular focus on West London and we have aligned our curriculum to key priority sectors including: creative, health and care, digital, green skills and logistics. These sectors sit as part of our broader offer, which covers 25 different curriculum areas, including ESOL, English and maths.

“The priority sector of Logistics has been a real focus for us and we are the lead across West London. With funding from the Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF), we were able to carry out a feasibility study, with a number of the recommendations already implemented, including the creation of our Logistics Skills + Careers Hub in Feltham. This was launched in October 2024 and plays a pivotal role in addressing the skills gaps within the logistics sector. The hub not only trains students but also fosters collaboration between education, business, and the wider community. Our Logistics Employer Board is an important strand of this. By working closely with logistics employers, we are able to help them recruit to those hard-to-fill vacancies whilst simultaneously supporting local economic productivity and growth.”

The college is also celebrating other successes, not least in winning the League of their Own Award at the West London Chambers Business Awards in recognition of its commitment to excellence in education and community engagement.

“This was incredibly important to us as the Chamber is such a key and valued partner,” says Tracy.

“Alan Rides is a college Governor, and through our strong partnership with Alan, Sally and the Chamber Team, we are able to connect education, skills and businesses and collaborate to meet local and regional needs. We have been able to provide the Chamber with an apprentice to help support their business growth by passing on part of our apprenticeship levy and we are currently in the process of doing the same for the charity, Hounslow’s Promise, who are co-located with us, alongside the Chamber.

“We do a lot of networking with Chamber employers which has been incredibly valuable and has had a direct and positive impact on our students. This includes members being part of our Employer Advisory Boards, informing and co-creating curriculum, the delivery of master classes, work placements and taking part in our annual employer event – Aspire, to name just a few.

“We recognise that in Hounslow, 88 per cent of businesses are micro businesses or SMEs and for us, it is really important that we work with our local businesses to address skills needs and tackle recruitment challenges. Our work with the Chamber is critical to that.”

Although the college has a lot to be happy about, Tracy says, like other FE colleges, funding remains a key challenge. One of the biggest challenges as a result of insufficient funding is the impact on staff recruitment. “There is a ‘massive funding gap’ between FE and other elements of the education sector. For example, an FE lecturer earns around £9,000 less than a schoolteacher.

“In August when a 5.5 per cent pay award was funded for school teachers, this was not provided for FE,” adds Tracy. “This was incredibly disappointing, given the significant role that colleges play in skills and economic growth.

“On the positive, the rise in NI contributions announced in the Autumn Budget, we know the Government is going to fund most of this. At the same time, the Autumn Budget announced a £300 million injection into sixth forms and colleges, which we really welcomed. However, whilst this will bring some benefit, it’s going to take more than this to reverse the decades of underinvestment in FE, both for 16-18-year olds and adults. In addition, we know that we are expecting a further 5% increase in the number of 16-18year olds between now and 2028, on top of the 13% growth in 16-18 numbers that we’ve already seen in 2018-2024.

“We are really hoping to see some long-term investment in FE in the upcoming Spending Review but we know that with competing priorities for public funding this is going to be a challenge.”

A challenge for the education sector as a whole, is the rise in the number of students with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

“This is a priority area for us,” she says. “We are a highly inclusive organisation and in our recent Ofsted Inspection we were graded as Outstanding for this provision. We are working closely with our Local Authority (Hounslow) to ensure that we can meet the growing demand by providing a high-quality curriculum that enables our SEND students to develop their vocational, employability and independence skills.

“Work is already well underway with this, with our Employability Hub for our young people with educational healthcare plans (EHCP) preparing them for the world of work and through the creation of our Independence Hub, phase 2 of which is due to open in September 2025. This will enable our young people to gain the independent living skills they need, in part through the creation of a simulated flat for independent living.

“Ambition and high expectations for all are core values of what we do as a college.

“I always say to students, ‘If you attend, you will achieve’ but that doesn’t go far enough,” she adds.

“It’s not only about academic achievement, it’s also ensuring that our students have the skills they need to progress to their next step and ultimately into the world of work. That’s why we have chosen to invest in skills, not just the technical and vocational skills but also the transferrable, employability and life skills. All of our full-time students have an Employability Coach and numerous opportunities to engage with employers.

We know that many people no longer have a career for life, so those wider skills are increasingly important.”

West Thames College was awarded the matrix Standard in recognition of the outstanding quality of its Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) services in September. This accolade underscores the college’s ongoing commitment to supporting students not only in their academic pursuits but also in their personal development and career goals.

“I am very proud of our students, our staff, our governors and our partners and in what we achieve together. As a college, we are much more than qualifications (although we do that very well, being the Number 1 College in London for the past 2 years and top 3% nationally), we provide our students with the skills they need to progress, we support social mobility, community cohesion, economic prosperity and play a pivotal role as an anchor institution in the local community.”