New College Stamford


New College Stamford is a further education college on Drift Road in Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. It opened as Stamford Technical College in 1967.
It is now a general further education college that provides full-time and part-time academic and vocational courses.

Courses

The curriculum is aimed at 14- to 16-year-olds, sixth-formers and those taking higher education and vocational further education within full or part-time courses. It includes courses in entertaining, music, dance, drama, broadcasting, television, radio, journalism, land-based science, medicine, nursing, dentistry, forensics, fashion, textiles, crafts, traditional trowel trades, carpentry, joinery, childcare, computing, sport and arts and motor vehicles.
Further education qualification study is provided for A-Level, BTEC and NVQ in Computing, Multimedia, Health and Social Care, Pre-Uniform Services, Sciences, Arts, Construction, Sports, Animal Care, Hair and Beauty and Catering.
From 2008, it has offered DipHE in Web Technology and Multimedia Technology, Administration, Art and Design, Fine Art, Graphic Design, and Business and Education courses.
College extra learning and support is in Key Skills Levels 1 to 3 in Application of Number, Information Technology and Communication, and Wider Key Skills in communication, writing, presentation, team building and sexually transmitted infections. Under Value Added Time, a student sees their course leader on a one-to-one basis, where course progress is discussed. There are also tutorials for pastoral support.
For students who previously attended the college for further education, a £1000 bursary is applied to tuition fees for students studying Higher Education at NCS.

Partnerships and status

From 2006, the college has worked in association with Bishop Grosseteste and Bedfordshire University which provide validation for NCS higher education courses.
In February 2008 the College became the only further education college in the area to provide AS and A2 levels, when Peterborough Regional College announced that it would be focusing on becoming a non-academic vocational college. That increased the application to NCS threefold.
The same year, the college developed a sixth form academy for A-Level study. The college is one of the only education providers in Lincolnshire to provide a full range of progression opportunities, such as A-Level, BTEC, NVQ, HNDs and FdAs).
NCS was awarded Beacon status in 2009.
In 2014, the college collaborated with Stamford A.F.C. on the establishment of the Borderville Sports Centre on land provided by the Burghley Estate, at Borderville on Ryhall Road, north of town.

Ofsted

In 2006, Ofsted rated NCS as Grade 2 "Good”, including effectiveness of provision, capacity to improve, achievements and standards, quality of provision and leadership as well as management
Some key areas were identified for improvement; milestones towards completion of targets were not specific enough or linked to quantifiable indicators to enable a clear and detailed view of progress. It was stated that the college needed to improve retention rates, the planning for and the development of learning and the quality of its self-assessment.
Since the 2006 Ofsted inspection, the problems have been rectified, as was noted in the annual assessment visit of 2007.