RACIAL bullying, chaotic leadership and broken promises have all been highlighted at a college due to close.

On Monday we reported that UTC@Harbourside at Newhaven was closing, and the announcement came two days before Ofsted were due to publish results of its inspection.

That report has now been published and the verdict is damning.

The main failings were:

1. Many pupils and learners are disappointed that they have not received the education they hoped for when they applied to join the UTC.

2. Too many promises made by the UTC have been broken too often.

3. Teaching is not effective enough to enable pupils’ and learners’ rapid progress. Pupils and learners are slow to develop new skills and do not build quickly on prior learning.

4. Pupils and learners feel inadequately prepared for examinations in the subjects that they are studying.

5. The most able pupils and learners are not challenged enough, and very few are predicted to achieve the highest grades.

6. Learners add little value to their education in Years 12 and 13.

7. Too many pupils and learners are absent too often. Levels of persistent absence far exceed national averages.

8. Bullying, especially in key stage 4, is frequent. Some of it is racial. Adults do not act decisively enough to stop it and prevent repetition.

9. There is inconsistency in the treatment by staff of poor behaviour.

10. Leadership and management are chaotic and ineffective, including in key areas such as safeguarding and risk assessment.

11. Some leaders have too many roles to be able to do them properly and there are insufficient financial resources to run the UTC effectively.

12.The curriculum meets the founding vision of the UTC pioneers but does not provide enough opportunities to prepare pupils and learners adequately for life in modern Britain.

The college had agreed to an interview at 10.30am today, but cancelled late last night and is refusing to talk to us.

But in a statement released this morning, governors said: "Following an inspection on the 22nd and 23rd May, Ofsted have graded the UTC as inadequate.

"We are very disappointed by this outcome but fully accept the findings of the inspectors and are committed to implementing the recommendations contained in their report for the students that remain with us until the UTC closes in August 2019.

"We have bought in an Acting Principal, Lisa Jepson, who has already started to address the issues raised in the report.

"We will continue to work closely with Ofsted to secure improvements and guide our current year 10 and 12 students to successfully completing their courses in July 2019."

More to follow