SERVICES aimed at providing learning opportunities for adults and community education in York have received good marks from a team of Government inspectors.

Ten inspectors from the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) spent a week reviewing City of York Council's adult learning classes, talking to people on the courses and those running them, to find out how effective the service is.

The inspectors confirmed that the quality of teaching was good, with 79 per cent of the sessions they observed rated as good or better, and over 96 per cent satisfactory or better. Retention rates were also good, with more than 80 per cent of the 5,680 participants in 2002/03 completing their course.

The inspectors also found that most people taking part in the courses achieved their own personal objectives, as well as those set by the teacher.

The ALI praised the council's efforts to make learning more accessible to everyone through its community action programme and the team's work to include groups who would not normally engage in adult learning.

Alistair Gourlay, head of lifelong learning at the council, said: "We always knew that the inspection was going to be a challenging experience for us. We are pleased that ALI confirmed what we already knew.

"We have very talented adult education tutors, who are highly committed to the learners that they teach and we are pleased that this was acknowledged."

The inspectors' report also included recommendations about how to enhance weaker areas of the service, including how to improve the collection, analysis and use of data about learners, and the way in which the quality of teaching is monitored.

Updated: 10:52 Thursday, June 19, 2003