THE acting principal of Widnes and Runcorn Sixth Form College has vowed to "put things right" after an Ofsted report labelled the institution weak, unsatisfactory and inadequate.
Alan Harrison, who is also acting principal of Halton College, and will oversee the merger of the sixth form, was shocked by the findings.
But he vowed to make changes to restore the sixth-form college to one of the best in the region. Mr Harrison said: "It's a shock in the sense that when I started working with the two colleges I would not have expected a report as bad as this one.
"But I want to put the people of Widnes and Runcorn at ease and ensure them that we will sort things out."
He said: "One of the problems was with the Runcorn campus. We are trying to get to the bottom of what is used by whom and where.
"There has been overcrowding on the Widnes site and under-utilisation in Runcorn, and there is great pressure on the buildings in Widnes which Ofsted highlighted.
"Students have told me there are problems with rooms and it's fairly chaotic, but they have great faith in the people in front of them."
Mr Harrison has already made sweeping changes and is in the process of implementing a post-inspection action plan.
His first move was to draft in former vice-principal Chris Darling, who was at the helm when the college opened.
Changes in leadership and management, curriculum, teaching methods, building improvements and financial re-structure have been highlighted as areas of concern by Mr Harrison. He says the college needs to get back to basics.
