Highlands College validated as a “good college with outstanding features.” 

A panel of business and voluntary sector leaders, members of the Highlands College Governing Body, students, and advisors from Children, Young People, Education and Skills as well as an expert employed by Department for Education (DFE) UK, assessed the College’s performance and overall outcomes for the 2021/2022 academic year. 

The assessment process judged Highlands College to be “a good college with outstanding features.”  

The panel judged Highlands College to be ‘outstanding’ in areas including safeguarding, learning support and inclusion, adult & skills outcomes (specifically part-time, apprenticeships and professional development programmes), digital services, and the management of its financial resources.  

The panel also agreed that the College was ‘good’ in areas including: the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, curriculum design, Higher Education (University College Jersey, work placements and enrichment opportunities for students.

The College was judged to have achieved major progress against its four strategic objectives, being rated ‘outstanding’ for both ‘Learning and Innovation’, and ‘Putting the Community First’.

Work undertaken towards sustainability was judged to be good, however the progress made towards realising a new campus was judged to be unsatisfactory as a feasibility study has not commenced.

Julie Acey, (Head of Customer Services and Operations, International and Retail Banking RBSI) and newly appointed Chair of Governors at Highlands College, said: “I was really honoured to be there to review the data and analysis presented and discuss future developments in the work of Highlands College, which is very impressive.” 

“This confirmed my long-held view, that Highlands College does an incredible job for Islanders, including students, employers, Government, and the community.  

 
“The College’s excellent outcomes highlight the opportunity for its role to be further developed as a key element of driving future academic and vocational achievement in the Island, which in turn supports economic growth and productivity, on a long-term sustainable basis.” 

Principal of Highlands College, Jo Terry-Marchant expressed her gratitude for the commitment of staff, the support of employers and the faith shown in the College by students and parents and the Government of Jersey. She said: “We are clear about our vision; to transform lives. We support students to have healthy and productive lives and work with employers to upskill and increase productivity. This informs everything we do. Last year, we also delivered fiscal stimulus funded training for hundreds of additional adults and social recovery programmes for islanders hit hard by the pandemic.”

This validation forms part of a broader scrutiny process that will see the College reviewed by peers from the Isle of Man and Guernsey. The peer review process also enhances pan-island working which will enable opportunities to create joint delivery of higher-level programmes that are cost effective and have high impact.