A SOUTHAMPTON college has been ordered to improve across the board in a "shocking" Ofsted report.

Inspectors said that all seven areas at City College “require improvement” - just one grade above inadequate in the four point scale.

Rating the college, inspectors deemed leadership, quality of teaching and behaviour all to be below par - despite the college having been graded "good" in its last inspection in 2011.

They said attendance at the college was “poor”, that “the proportion of students that achieve their qualifications is not yet good" and "too few apprentices complete their courses on time”.

The damning report states that “achievement in English and mathematics requires urgent improvement” and that “too few employers are adequately involved in planning the training of their apprentices”.

It adds: "Too many teachers have insufficiently high expectations of their students in lessons, and do not ensure that students make the best possible progress."

But a spokesperson for the college - which is run by principal Sarah Stannard - said the college “welcomed” the inspection.

A statement released to the Daily Echo said: “Whilst it is disappointing not to have maintained a good grade, we were pleased with the strengths the inspectors found and reassured that the actions for improvement in the report endorsed those the college already has in place.

“The inspectors were complimentary about the way in which teachers use their up-to-date industry experience to develop students’ practical skills and to prepare them effectively for work.

"They also said that the range of courses that the college offers is well matched to the needs of local employers in Southampton and the Solent region.

“A key area of improvement for City College is to improve attendance of students, which is too low. Attendance in education is an issue across all types of education in Southampton and City College is working hard with students, parents, schools and employers to improve the attendance of students and apprentices so that they have the best opportunity to succeed on their qualifications.

“We are confident that we can make rapid improvements and will achieve a 'good' outcome in the future.”

Southampton City Council's education boss Councillor Darren Paffey said: "My team at SCC has reviewed all inspection reports, and is working on recommendations for ways to work collectively to address various actions, for example, employer engagement and attendance.

"We have been in contact with all three principals, meetings have taken place, and further meetings will happen to take forward joint actions. Ofsted will be overseeing the quality improvement plan, and the Regional Schools Commissioner will also be interested in the college performance."

But independent councillor Andrew Pope slammed the report as "shocking," and said it comes as a result of "bickering" between the council and central government who have "failed to address the needs of the city's young people".

City College has around 4,900 students and teaches courses to school leavers and adults.

Courses include art and design, construction, engineering and English for speakers of other languages and marine industry systems and engineering.

It employs around 350 people.

A spokesperson for Ofsted said: "A further education college judged to require improvement will normally have a full re-inspection within one to two years. Ofsted will make ‘support and challenge’ visits to help with improvements before the full re-inspection."