A FURTHER education centre has been rated "inadequate" - with inspectors criticising its lack of ambition, declining exam results and ineffective management.
Surrey Hills Onward Learning (SHOL), which runs part-time classes for adults and teenagers at the Letherhead Institute, was visited by Ofsted inspectors last month, with their findings published this week.
The facility offers qualifications in a range of subjects including classical civilisation, biology, law and foreign languages.
But inspectors found "long-standing weaknesses" with the way classes are taught and said the managers "lack the capacity to improve".
The report said: "The provider does not meet its statutory requirements to safeguard learners.
"Leaders do not understand sufficiently what action to take if they have serious concerns about the welfare and safety of young learners.
"Arrangements to monitor equality and diversity are inadequate; information on the achievement of different groups of learners is not used to help analyse and improve provision."
The inspectors found that only half of all pupils taking GCSE courses achieved a qualification in 2011/12, and that success rates for learners aged 16 to 18 are "low and declining".
The report added: "Too many lesson plans lack clear and detailed learning targets."
GCSE courses at SHOL run for 17 weeks and cost £300 per subject for people aged over 19. Other classes range from £50 to £200 per term.
Most classes for teenagers are free, but the Ofsted report notes that "courses are structured and taught around the needs of the majority of learners, who are fee-paying adults" and that SHOL "fails to meet its contractual obligation to tailor its educational provision to the benefit of 16- to 18-year-old learners".
The report rated SHOL as "inadequate" for "quality of teaching, learning and assessment" and "effectiveness of leadership and management", and merely "satisfactory" for "outcomes for learners".
Inspectors also criticised the centre's facilities, adding: "Tutors rely too heavily on course textbooks to guide and support learning activities.
"Many tutors use the limited range of information and learning technologies available in the centre; however, this is not always effective.
"In one lesson, for example, learners were unable to see illustrations on a laptop screen.
"There is no reliable internet access and the one interactive whiteboard available is precariously perched on a cardboard box, presenting a health and safety hazard.
"Leaders lack ambition and vision for young learners."
Surrey Hills Onward Learning declined to comment on the Ofsted findings.
Ofsted's key points- "Outcomes for learners require improvement"
- "Too many do not pass their examinations and so do not achieve the qualifications for which they are studying"
- "Teaching, learning and assessment are inadequate"
- "Courses are structured and taught around the needs of the majority of learners, who are for fee-paying adults"
- "The leadership of SHOL lacks ambition and vision for young learners"
- "Management oversight is ineffective in securing improvements. Long-standing weaknesses in provision have not been remedied"
- "The provider does not meet its statutory requirements to safeguard learners"
- "Tutors rely too heavily on course textbooks to guide and support learning activities"
