College design teachers given top marks

Further education and sixth form colleges are delivering high quality design teaching, according to a report published by the Further Education Funding Council.

Inspectors visiting colleges over a two-year period say that despite funding cuts, art, design and performing arts courses achieve higher standards than further education classes as a whole.

The report praises the number of part-time lecturers who are practising artists and designers, but highlights weaknesses in the teaching of theory and basic skills, such as drawing.