Fareham College was judged to be outstanding by Ofsted in October 2017 and has continued to excel. We continue to provide outstanding support for our students and have maintained excellent achievement rates, year after year. Our students are well prepared for their future successes and our excellent links to local and regional employers add value to our students’ studies.
Being endorsed as an ‘outstanding’ education provider by Ofsted, acted as a catalyst for substantial change and continuous improvement. Significant investment means our large and growing apprenticeship provision, combined with our successes in the first waves of T Levels, has positioned the College as the leading technical and professional further education provider in the Solent region.
The College has further increased its standing and reputation in recent years, seen by many now as a regional and national leader on many collaborative programmes which sit at the heart of government ambitions for technical and professional education reform.
We have led successes in:
/ The Education Training Foundation funded Centres for Excellence in Maths programme.
/ A College Collaboration Fund programme of support with another local FE college.
/ Our national role in the development of the first wave of T Levels and Transition to T Levels programmes.
/ The Strategic Development Fund pilot and second round programme in a wide collaboration of FE colleges in the Solent region.
/ The South Coast Institute of Technology.
/ Support to the development of the Solent Local Skills Improvement Plan, led by the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce.
Over the last 7 years, £40m of investment has transformed the campuses at Bishopsfield Road and the Solent Enterprise Zone, into a state-of-the-art post-16 college which is easily the best equipped in the region and rivals the best in the country. Recent investment in equipment, through T Levels, the Strategic Development Fund, and the Institute of Technology, has enabled us to achieve standards that
are on a par with many universities. These resources enable the college to deliver level 3 and higher technical courses to the highest possible standards.
Our excellent links with employers enable us to support students’ industry placement options, and workforce industry exchange programmes for teaching staff, provide students and staff with insight to current industry standards, open doors to apprenticeships and employment, share equipment and work collaboratively.
Our ability to meet the government policy objectives in the Further Education (FE) Whitepaper, ‘Skills for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunity and Growth,’ as well as the enhanced 2023 Ofsted inspection (which provides a judgement on our response to meeting local skills needs) is already deeply embedded in the way the College works.
/ Putting employers at the heart of the system
/ Investing in higher technical qualifications
/ Making sure people can access training and learning throughout their lives
/ Supporting excellent teaching in further education.
This strategic plan aims to build on these strengths for the benefit of the wider community of the Solent region, continuing to work collaboratively with a range of education providers at secondary, further, and higher education level. It is through this collaboration that school leavers, local and regional employers and their employees will benefit greatest from the potential of further education. Moving forward, the College intends to lead education provider collaborations to create wider and more formal group structures through joint ventures, college-to-college mergers and other partnership agreements aiming to create a more collaborative and responsive curriculum offer for the Solent region.
Fareham College serves the communities of Fareham and Gosport, and increasingly beyond. Between the two boroughs there are approximately 200,000 residents. Both boroughs have economic activity rates higher than the national rates and out-of-work claimant rates lower than national rates.
The College works closely with Hampshire County Council and unitary authorities of Portsmouth and Southampton City Councils. Hampshire county’s economy is worth more than £35 billion with 65,000 businesses operating in the area and over 689,000 people in work.
More locally, Fareham College is at the heart of the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
The LEP region has a population of 1.24 million, 42,000 businesses and a gross value added (GVA) of £31 billion. It has a range of assets that are globally renowned, a strong small medium enterprise (SME) and skills base, and a thriving research community through its universities and research institutions.
Over recent years the College has established itself as a high-quality and responsive further education provider. We now consider our future as one of the leaders of a wider group structure over the course of this strategy, the College will seek to establish a meaningful change in structure and scope to provide wider regional benefit by leading a consolidation of the current competitive post-16 landscape to a more coherent and collaborative group of Solent Colleges.s
Our purpose is our cultural norm, our why. Our purpose is who we are at our absolute best and the role we are here to fulfil. Our purpose comes from our culture and is connected to our aspirations. Our purpose brings value through increased employee engagement and higher levels of productivity.
Our purpose is timeless, whereas our mission (what we do day-by-day) can change – it’s influenced by our external environment, changes in government priorities and regional competition.
To enable all our students and apprentices to be successful in their future, whatever that may hold for them, through high-quality technical and professional education and training.
By 2026 we will lead a better distributed, more coherent, and collaborative group of Solent Colleges. Through this, we will provide outstanding education and training across a wide community of students and employers in the Solent region. Our work will support the skills needs of employers and improve regional productivity and economic development.
To have high expectations for our students and help them achieve their fullest potential OUR
Our culture is our personality and character; it is made up of our shared values, how our people behave and interact, how decisions are made and how we approach our work.
Our culture is the golden thread connecting everything we do.
We create a culture where RESPECT is deeply-embedded for all that work, study and visit Fareham College.
This strategy will be achieved with the support and commitment of fully engaged and motivated people who are proud to work for Fareham College. Our people are;
RESPONSIVE & ADAPTIVE to change, creating new opportunities for meeting new challenges.
CREATIVE, IMAGINATIVE, & ENTREPRENEURIAL professionals in their respective fields.
COLLABORATORS who promote the benefits of team working through collaboration for wider and greater impact whilst focussing on developing a respectful culture.
PASSIONATE
committed to continually improving themselves and ultimately the experience and success of our students.
EMPATHETIC understanding of and relating to others perspectives and experiences, ensuring that support and guidance is provided.
EMPOWERED
DECISIVE actively participating, being present and proactive each day, consistently challenging ways of working, whilst providing solutions in a timely and considered manner.
ACCOUNTABLE to the impact of their actions in relation to the reputation of the College, the outcomes of students and colleagues and their personal performance.
PROVIDING SECTOR-LEADING, INDUSTRY-STANDARD LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
PREPARING LEARNERS FOR SUCCESS
PROVIDING A HIGH-QUALITY, INCLUSIVE CURRICULUM TO MEET LOCAL, COMMUNITY AND EMPLOYER NEEDS
ENSURING FINANCIAL RESILIENCE
Our success is determined by the future successes of all our learners. Setting and maintaining high expectations of the success of our students and apprentices secures our reputation as the education provider of choice in the region. Outstanding teaching and learning lie at the heart of the college and will ensure that all learners are well supported to be successful, whatever the future holds for them.
We will invest in the support services required to safeguard all learners and enrich their college experience. We will embed sustainability in our curriculum and seek to educate our students on the cause, effect and mitigation of climate change. Through our teaching and learning we will promote, enhance, and celebrate equality, diversity, and inclusion.
We will encourage and invest in staff development in the widest possible breadth to ensure that our people are well-equipped to provide the absolute best educational experience for all our students and apprentices.
We will… and as a result, ….
• deliver consistently outstanding teaching, learning and assessment.
• provide consistently outstanding support for our students and ensure their future success is at the heart of all that we do.
• set high ambitions for our students and apprentices, celebrating their progress and employability.
• ensure we provide first class apprenticeship training in our region.
over 90% of students and apprentices say they would recommend Fareham College.
over 95% of students and apprentices will progress to positive destinations related to the intention of their studies.
our inspection grade will be maintained as Outstanding.
our apprenticeship outcomes will be at least 10% above national rates.
We have a broad curriculum portfolio which offers choice for school leavers and adults looking to retrain and reskill. Courses are offered at all levels and are currently predominantly focussed on professional and technical qualifications.
Through partnership, we will extend our offer at Fareham so that local school leavers are able to access the widest possible range of options for their post-16 education at their local college.
We are a college at the heart of our community and will ensure we consider our community interests in the work we do and the role we fulfil.
Our curriculum is influenced by, and aligns closely with, the skills needs of the local area. Employers play a key role in the design, development and resourcing of our T Level and apprenticeship curriculum.
We will ensure our response to meeting skills needs is strong. We will use available data and feedback to identify the skills most needed by employers and work with other providers to ensure the response to these is comprehensive and coherent across the region.
We will support employers in their own development for their business and corporate response to sustainability and climate change. We will help and guide businesses and employers in their own approaches to the promotion, enhancement, and celebration of equality, diversity, and inclusion.
Each curriculum area will facilitate industry-led forums or boards to support and influence the curriculum to ensure the best possible response to local skills needs.
We will… and as a result, ….
• further develop a broad range of high-quality T Levels, relevant to workforce demand.
• increase our range of programme levels, from 1 to 6, in partnership with other providers where appropriate.
• increase our breadth of post-16 provision to enable access to all options relevant to school leavers in reach of the college.
• establish strong and meaningful partnerships and collaborations with a range of stakeholders to add value to our customers.
• review and respond to skills demand in the region.
the proportion of school leavers in Fareham, accessing education and training at Fareham College will increase to at least 50% by 2026.
our Higher Education provision will double by 2026.
employer surveys will show satisfaction rates above 90%.
our response to meeting local skills needs will be strong, as judged by Ofsted’s enhanced inspection methodology.
It is evident that the period of this strategic plan will be one of significant economic challenge and uncertainty.
Recent years have seen the government respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and support Ukraine’s response to Russia’s war. With increased public borrowing, high-inflation, high interest costs, high energy costs and a cost of living crisis, we are in a uniquely challenging financial period, for individuals and businesses.
The economic position presents a challenging headwind to the College’s development. Colleges play an important role in economic development but are reliant on the public purse.
We will need to manage our finances carefully, ensuring all courses are delivered efficiently, and we will need to diversify income to the private sector where possible.
We will… and as a result, ….
• ensure the college operates efficiently, with effective forward financial planning and with due consideration of risk.
• seek all opportunities for additional funding where available.
• increase our proportion of private and commercial income through contracts for training services.
• actively seeking merger to increase the organisation’s size, scale and efficiency.
achieve an annual adjusted operating surplus
maintain a healthy staff to income ratio
maintain a good EBITDA to adjusted income ratio
maintain adequate cash days
Further Education has a fundamental role in driving regional economic improvement through education and workforce training and reskilling.
We will continue to respond, in partnership and collaboration, to policy in line with recommendations from the FE Whitepaper, ‘Skills for Jobs: Lifelong Learning for Opportunity and Growth.’
We will build on our current success in leadership roles for funded project work and apply for other programmes of a similar nature where appropriate.
The investment this provides will secure further improvement for the college and its partners.
Through the work we do, we will respond to the Solent LEP 2050 Strategy and the Solent LEP 10-Point Plan for Building Back Greener. We will work collaboratively with the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce to develop and deliver against the Local Skills Improvement Plan.
We will extend our Higher Education offer and seek University Centre status at Fareham to strengthen our position as a Higher Education provider.
We will… and as a result, ….
• develop a wide collaboration of education providers with shared values working to improve regional outcomes.
• respond to government policy in further education to benefit from investment and drive improvement.
• impact positively on the Solent LEP Economic Recovery Plan and the Solent Skills Action Plan.
we will ensure there is a coherent and collaborative response to employers’ skills needs, at the college and regionally.
we will seek validation for University Centre status.
Our facilities will be developed in consultation with, and supported by, our employers. With a drive to deliver excellence in teaching and provide outstanding services to businesses, the college will maintain its reputation for sector leading facilities.
We will seek opportunities to enhance our facilities for the delivery of T Levels and Higher Technical Qualifications. We will ensure we seek every opportunity to expand our estate to meet our anticipated growth in full-time, apprenticeship and Higher Education student numbers.
We will invest in additional resources to keep up to date with the standards required by the employers we work with, this will require carefully considered and adequately funded investment.
We will… and as a result, ….
• extend the use of digital technology to enhance teaching, learning and assessment and improve the services offered;
• continue to invest in world-class facilities and resources for all our customers.
our IT systems will be secure, reliable and support outstanding teaching and student support. investment into the college will continue to drive improvement in the estate, resources, and innovation in pedagogy.
We will promote, enhance, and celebrate equality, diversity, and inclusion in all the work we do.
We will be an employer of choice, valuing the efforts and talents of all our people and further developing their skills to impact positively on their careers.
We will carry out our work sustainably by promoting environmental impact reduction, lowering our carbon footprint, and educating our students on the causes and effects of climate change.
We will monitor and report our performance through our Climate Action Roadmap.
We will ensure health, safety and safeguarding is routinely embedded in the work we do.
Accidents and near misses will be minimised but where they do occur they will drive improvement.
