City College wins national awards for ‘culture of excellence’

It's official, Exeter College is the leading Further Education (FE) college in the country after winning Outstanding Provider of the Year and Outstanding Leadership of Learning and Skills Awards at the prestigious Times Educational Supplement FE Awards yesterday.

 

The city’s college has been awarded the accolades, beating hundreds of submissions from Further Education providers across the country, in the competition that recognises outstanding provision in all aspects of FE. Gerard Kelly, TES editor said “The entries were of an unbelievable high standard and reflected the innovation and ambition that are common in the sector but are too rarely recognised.”

 

Picking up the Awards in front of 600 education and industry guests at the Skills Show in Birmingham, Richard Atkins, Principal, thanked the dedicated teams of staff at the college saying, “This has been a truly outstanding year and I’m proud of this latest recognition of the hard work of our staff, students and partners. We celebrate the achievements of our students throughout the year and these TES Awards really show us that our continued focus on excellent teaching and learning leading to successful student outcomes and our partnerships in the city and further afield have now earned the recognition of our education peers.”

 

The TES Awards come at the end of an outstanding year for the students and staff at the college. In March the college was in the national news gaining the accolade of ‘Outstanding’ in the country’s first no-notice pilot Ofsted Inspection as well as celebrating during the summer the spectacular International Baccalaureate, A Level and vocational student results.

 

The Outstanding Provider of the Year Award is given for the provider who has demonstrated exceptional performance in the past academic year. Commenting on Exeter College’s pilot Ofsted inspection the TES judges noted “If outstanding means maintaining the highest standards day in, day out, perhaps no college or training provider has been tested quite as thoroughly as Exeter College” going on to say “It was particularly impressive that Ofsted gave Exeter the first ‘outstanding’ grade for teaching and learning in a college for two and a half years. Like all overnight success, it was built on years of hard work; as the judges’ decision to also give the college the Outstanding Leadership in Learning and Skills Award shows.  The college also has an impressive record of pastoral care, plus exam grades in the top 5 per cent of colleges.”

 

Receiving the Outstanding leadership in Learning and Skills demonstrates that Exeter College ensures the greatest breadth and depth of leadership and management skills across a wide range of functions. The submission evidenced how best-practice management has had an impact on the outcomes for the wide range of learners in the college and has improved on standard practice in the sector.  The judges noted that in addition to the Ofsted pilot inspection success the college has gained “a host of other accolades that pay tribute to everything from e-learning to partnership with schools, outstanding practical teaching and simply being one of the best places to work in the public sector.”

 

Commenting on the Award, John Laramy, Deputy Principal noted “We rightly concentrate on celebrating how our lecturers and teaching and support staff help our students reach their potential. This particular award celebrates the leadership and management at all levels throughout the college and how this contribution has driven the ethos of continuous improvement. Again this award complements our Ofsted pilot inspection in the Spring when inspectors also complimented “the passion of leaders and managers at all levels for securing the best experience and outcomes for students.” 

 
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