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About Queen Mary's College

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Queen Mary’s College is open to everyone who wants to be here: young people of all levels of ability, with all kinds of talents, backgrounds, interests and ambitions. Whatever your achievements so far and whatever your hopes for the future, you are welcome at Queen Mary’s College.

We offer you a partnership with the staff who will teach and support you. The aims of this partnership are for you to develop as an individual, to acquire skills and abilities, to reach personal goals, to gain in confidence and to develop more understanding of the choices that will shape your future.

What we ask of you is that you are eager to accept that partnership and will come to Queen Mary’s aiming to achieve your very best. Queen Mary’s is a community of, and for, people who want to learn.

Good Place to Learn

We welcome all people to Queen Mary's College. There is only one vital entry condition: all students must wish to continue their studies and be prepared to work, to join in, and to learn. Queen Mary's is a community of, and for, people who want to learn.

Queen Mary's is a place where students can be serious about their work. As all our students have chosen to be here, classes have a constructive working atmosphere. Students are treated as adults and are encouraged to take responsibility for their own work. Staff are highly qualified and specialists in their subjects. This creates a positive, friendly and relaxed atmosphere where staff have time for students and students enjoy learning.

Ofsted Inspection Reports

Further information on published Ofsted inspection reports can be found on the Ofsted website using the link below (some documents require Adobe Acrobat Reader).

http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxedu_providers/full/(urn)/130700

Ofsted Inspection Report Findings - September 2007

Achievement and standards

• Achievement and standards are good. Students on AS and A2 courses and BTEC nationals make good progress, often meeting challenging targets.
• In 2007 students’ achievement on A2 courses in groups of middle to upper ability was excellent. No groups of students underachieve as a result of the highly inclusive provision.

Quality of teaching and learning

• The quality of teaching and learning and academic guidance is good. This is a result of well-qualified teachers working in successful partnership with students, personal tutors and parents.
• Teachers use prior attainment information and assessed work effectively to modify their lesson activities in order to best meet the needs of the students. Students are very clear about how well they are doing in all subjects and generally understand what they need to do to improve the quality of their work.
• The highly effective system of personal tutoring and frequent monitoring of progress enables timely and successful intervention to tackle underachievement. As a result, the academic guidance and support for students is outstanding, which the students themselves recognise.

Quality of curriculum

• The quality of the level 3 curriculum is excellent, with over 50 level three courses provided across a wide range of subject areas. Students are guided to follow programmes commensurate with their aptitudes and abilities. Guidance for students as to which course to follow is good.
• Curriculum planning is good, based on analysis of the perceived needs of the local community, robust evaluation of the effectiveness of the existing programme and identified gaps in provision.
• Successful enrichment and support programmes for students deemed gifted and talented and those who have learning difficulties or disabilities are well established reflecting the college’s inclusive philosophy.

Leadership and management of level three provision

• Leadership and management of level 3 provision, which makes up around 80% of the college’s provision, is good with some outstanding aspects.
• In particular the quality of self-evaluation is excellent. This is based on an interactive, comprehensive electronic system for monitoring and tracking students’ progress and a robust lesson observation schedule. This enables college leaders at all levels to have a well-honed understanding of strengths and weaknesses.
• Target setting is robust and ensures an element of challenge over and above simple predictions based on GCSE attainment.
• Leaders at all levels are focused on raising achievement and standards.

Inclusion

• Inclusion is outstanding. The college’s inclusive approach is highly appreciated by the students including those receiving the specific support needed for ‘Oxbridge’ entry and those who need support as a result of learning difficulties or social and emotional problems.