A private college in Queen’s park which charges students up to £18,450-a-year has been slammed by education inspectors for the third time in just nine months.

Bales College is still not meeting the standards required across a number of areas - including the national minimum standards for safeguarding.

The Harroow Road school, which has 78 day students and nine boarders aged 11 to 18, was first inspected in October 2013, and then again in January 2014 after it put in place an action plan to fix the catalogue of problems inspectors uncovered.

This third inspection, held over two days in May, took place after a revised action plan was bought in.

And while inspectors found a number of the requirements had now been met, there were still a number of issues - meaning overall the regulations remained unmet.

These included problems with teaching standards - including the fact the Year 7 scheme for maths is “pitched too low” for the more able students, while the Key Stage 4 scheme is “pitched too high” for some.

Forward strides have been made in safeguarding, but “the college’s policies, procedures, teaching and supporting strategies in relation to e-safety and the wider concepts of keeping young people safe while outside in community settings are not adequate”.

While classrooms are now brighter “as a result of new flooring and better cleaning”, they remain “uninspiring learning environments”.

Related link: Ofsted discover more problems at failing boarding school in Queen’s Park