STUDENTS and staff at Redcar and Cleveland College are celebrating after impressing Ofsted inspectors.

The college, which is based on a new £26million campus, was praised for its effectiveness and was graded as a good learning establishment.

College principal Gary Groom said he was thrilled with the inspectors report, which praised the wide range of courses available, the effectiveness of the college, and the new state-of-the-art facilities.

He said: "We are delighted that the college has now been recognised for the large number of improvements we have made since the last inspection in 2004, when we were then graded as satisfactory.

"Previously, the college was not meeting its full potential and needed to improve both standards and the facilities."

Inspectors rated the new college building and facilities, which opened in September last year, as outstanding. Safety of students and staff was also graded as outstanding, and the inspectors also commented that students were well behaved and respectful to each other.

They said the overall effectiveness of the college was good, and stated that its capacity to improve further was also good.

Mr Groom said everyone at the college was very proud of what they had achieved.

He said: "We set out on a long journey to improvement when I arrived here four years ago and, while we are extremely pleased with our achievements so far, we still have a distance to travel and are very focused.

"We will continue to strive for excellence in the hope that we achieve the highest grade possible at our next inspection - that of outstanding."

Chairman of governors Dr Graham Hillier added: “This is an excellent achievement for the college. We are all extremely pleased that the inspectors recognised the many improvements that have been made since the last inspection, and saw the college as we do – a good learning establishment.

“Everyone has worked very hard and will continue to do so to ensure that our students get the best education that is possible.”