Astor College for the Arts has made “significant improvement” according to Ofsted.

This comes after a report released in September revealed that the school had been rated “requires improvement” in all categories.

The report from the latest inspection on January 25 is yet to be released by Ofsted but the school said inspector Theresa Phillips said “effective action” was taken by senior leaders and governors to raise standards.

She said the school’s improvement plans had an immediate impact and “led to a greater sense of common purpose, with the progress and well-being of all pupils at the heart of the shared vision. Steps taken by the interim head and leadership team have significantly improved the culture within the school. Pupils and staff are clearly enjoying working within the collaborative ethos which now pervades the school.”

She said: “Leaders at the school show resilience and a determined drive for further improvement.”

Chris Russell, CEO of the Dover Federation for the Arts, said: “It is heartening for the school to be judged as it should be and the hard work of its staff and students recognised in achieving this extremely positive progress.”

On visiting classrooms, Ms Phillips added that it was clear the pupils knew what was expected of them during the lessons and no low-level disruption was observed.

Teachers challenge pupils with questioning and where weaknesses were identified with teaching, coaching was taking place.

The school has also been happy to share that the inspector observed that the current Year 11 pupils are on course to make better progress than last year and the school has seen improved attendance.

Since 2016, Lee Kane was appointed as principal of the school and continues to make improvements.