It’s the moment that strikes fear into the heart of every principal: the arrival of the FE commissioner in the college reception. Even though it’s hard to think of a more amiable hitman than the current post-holder, Richard Atkins, the fact that the commissioner has been parachuted in to sort out an institution is a surefire sign that the faeces has not only struck the fan, but been shredded into a thousand tiny pieces, which have been flung in all directions.

Unusually, however, the commissioner this week had a more pleasant duty to carry out: he was due to pay a visit to the transformed Ealing, Hammersmith and West London’s College. The college has had a tough time: it’s faced severe financial difficulties in recent years, and in 2015 was rated “inadequate” by Ofsted, resulting in it going into FE commissioner intervention. But its latest Ofsted report, published this week, revealed the college’s spectacular rise from inadequate to good in less than 18 months.

Within 24 hours of the report being published, the commissioner was due in town to complete the final stock take, which should, all being well, mark the end of the formal intervention process. The only hold-up in the process could well be the small matter of next month’s general election: the college must wait until it receives a formal letter from the minister to signal the all-clear. And, given that we won’t know who the next skills minister will be until after 8 June, this could take a while.

But as CEO Garry Phillips pointed out in Tes back in January, colleges that are rigorous in their self-analysis and confident in their improvement shouldn’t have to wait for external verification before shouting about their improvement. So, in that spirit, congratulations to everyone at the college on their hard work.

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