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All Press Releases (78)

Celebrity Chef James Martin celebrates WorldSkills UK Gold Medallists

The gold medal winners of WorldSkills UK competitions have been celebrated at a glittering ceremony held at the BFI London IMAX cinema. Competitors in over 60 competitions ranging from Electrical Installations and Autobody Repair through to Performance Arts and Accounting Technician Skills were honoured for their achievements. Celebrity chef James Martin presented each gold medallist with their award. UK Skills also launched the annual WorldSkills, UK Alumni awards, sponsored by independent e… Continue

Added by Kate Moloughney on November 20, 2009 at 5:38pm — No Comments

FE SECTOR MUST BE PROTECTED AMID FUNDING CUTS

“Following the release of the Government’s Skills Investment Strategy, planned funding cuts to the further education sector could not have come at a more awkward time,” said David Grailey, chief executive of NCFE. “Cuts are imminent and the rate at which apprenticeships and other skills-boosting courses are to be funded will be one of the hardest-hit are… Continue

Added by Hayley Sturgess on November 20, 2009 at 2:00pm — No Comments

Poster campaign boosts Bournemouth & Poole College's computer training

The Bournemouth and Poole College has run a successful billboard campaign in the heart of Bournemouth town centre to promote the range of courses available at its IT Learning Centre, based at Richmond Hill. The eye-catching bus stop billboards, booked through Signposter.com, were placed in high visibility locations in close proximity to the IT centre, targeted to reach a wide audience of prospective students. IT Learning Centre Manager, Tony Collins said, “The IT Learning Centre is a flexi-lea… Continue

Added by Liz Ross Martyn on November 20, 2009 at 10:57am — No Comments

PebblePad team to demonstrate online Personal Learning System in New Zealand

Pebble Learning is to demonstrate the latest release of the PebblePad online Personal Learning System at ascilite’s 2009 conference in Auckland City, New Zealand as a bronze sponsor. This is the first time that Pebble Learning has exhibited in New Zealand and follows the success of the team’s attendance at ascilite 2008 in Melbourne. Ascili… Continue

Added by Catherine Dhanjal on November 19, 2009 at 3:30pm — No Comments

RCU invites applications for 2010 Research Fund

Information and application forms are now available on RCU’s website (www.rcu.co.uk) for any sector staff who wish to propose a research project for which they require sponsorship. The projects receive £5,000 in cash and a further £5,000 of in-kind support from RCU staff. Last year, projects were approved for Hartlepool College of FE and Bury College. Hartlepool College looked into the impact of the downturn on employers’ views of Apprenticeships and Bury Coll… Continue

Added by Philip Lucas on November 18, 2009 at 4:34pm — No Comments

Logistics Academy, East Midlands opens at West Nottinghamshire College

The East Midlands regional hub of the Logistics Academy launched last week at the Kirkby-in-Ashfield campus of West Nottinghamshire College by deputy director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), John Cridland CBE, is set to boost access to national skills wit… Continue

Added by Rebecca Short on November 18, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Reaching for a new career

The worry of being made redundant is being eased by a free programme designed to support people in getting back to work. Central Sussex College’s Reach programme is designed to give those who are unemployed or facing redundancy the confidence to undertake interviews, the chance to retrain and the skills to update their CVs, providing a positive focus during a difficult stage in their lives.

… Continue

Added by Lisa Cole on November 17, 2009 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Bedford College takes on apprentices as part of workforce

Pic caption: Apprentices employed at Bedford College - with Julie Jeffrey who oversees apprenticeships Bedford College is one of the first FE Colleges in the UK to take on apprentices as part of its workforce. Ten apprentices have been employed in a variety of roles and the College is hoping to recruit more to work at Shuttlewor… Continue

Added by Sue Gough on November 16, 2009 at 7:00pm — No Comments

Back from the brink

He has come back from the very brink. Six years ago, at the age of 39, Gosport man Barry Hunt was told he would be dead within a year if he did not tackle his alcoholism. Today, after studying an Electrical Domestic Installation course with New Career Skills - which retrains mature career changers for jobs as plumbers, electricians and professional property marketers - Barry has started his own business. Barry, 45, studied at New Career Skills’ Chandler’s Ford base after leaving the Navy in D… Continue

Added by Steven Smith on November 16, 2009 at 11:47am — No Comments

TV and West End star honours Southampton students and employers

FAME may have been making a comeback at the cinemas this autumn, but Grease was still the word at Southampton City College’s annual awards. The college held a Grease themed awards ceremony and the guest star was Danny Bayne, winner of ITV’s “Grease is the Word” and star of the recent West End production. The event, held at The Novotel in Southampton, showcased more than 40 students who have excelled in their personal achievements and successes and who have acted as an inspiration for others.… Continue

Added by Laura Downton on November 14, 2009 at 6:00pm — No Comments

ALEX NEIL MSP JOINS CITY & GUILDS TO INTRODUCE SKILLS MANIFESTO

Minister Alex Neil MSP has hailed City & Guilds’ Scottish Manifesto for Skills as ‘a route map for the future’. As unemployment figures continue to rise in Scotland and the government strives to pull the economy out of recession, the leading awarding organisation has produced a document that offers some solutions. Industry leade… Continue

Added by Sarah Patel on November 12, 2009 at 5:02pm — No Comments

Wollaton Hall gets a Christmas makeover

Floristry students at New College Nottingham (ncn) have created a variety of festive floral designs to decorate Wollaton Hall for its Tudor Christmas events during November. The group of 14 Level 3 Diploma in Floristry students created individual displays to decorate seven areas of the Hall including the entrance, the Great Hall and the educational room. Keeping to a Tudor theme, students were set the challenge of creating their designs without using a single flower. Instead they used f… Continue

Added by Nicola Grimshaw on November 12, 2009 at 2:44pm — No Comments

Barry College focuses on its learners

Learners were given a chance to have their say on how their College is run this week in the latest round of Barry College Focus Group sessions. Three groups of learners from across the College’s sites and course areas attended a series of information-sharing sessions at the Colcot Road campus. It marks the second year that Barry College has canvassed its learners on what they think about the services on offer. The first session covered the student experience, looking at how the effectiveness o… Continue

Added by Chris Baker on November 12, 2009 at 2:26pm — No Comments

New College Nottingham wins two major training awards

New College Nottingham’s (ncn) School of Construction has won two national awards for plastering achievement throughout England, Scotland and Wales, from The Worshipful Company of Plaisterers. The Plaisterers’ Training Awards 2009 recognise and celebrate the highest standards of achievement in training and education within the UK plastering industry. The College has been awarded the John G Robinson Trophy for the best overall performing college from the regions as well as the Midlands R… Continue

Added by Nicola Grimshaw on November 12, 2009 at 2:15pm — No Comments

Cornwall’s First Senior ‘CyberMentors’

Cornwall College students have become the first in the county to be trained as senior CyberMentors, in time for National Anti-Bullying Week (16th-20th Nov). The group of students, from St Austell, have just returned from an exchange trip to City and Islington College where they joined London students to be trained as online mentors. The CyberMentors scheme was set up by Beatbullying, the UK’s leading bullying prevention charity, to create an online virtual community tackling cyberbullyi… Continue

Added by Josie Scobling on November 12, 2009 at 1:43pm — No Comments

Digital Book Scheme launched to benefit Croydon community

Members of Croydon Disability Forum were joined by the Mayor of Croydon and other dignitaries at Croydon College last week to launch the ‘Overdrive’ e-library service. The Mayor, Councillor Margaret Mead, presided over a formal switch-on of the new system, among the first in the UK, which will allow books to be downloaded as text or audio files and enjoyed for the loan period, after w… Continue

Added by Holly Patton on November 12, 2009 at 12:31pm — No Comments

Aurora makes registration easy with face recognition technology at BETT 2010

Visitors at BETT who are looking to save time and costs during student registration can visit stand P18 where Aurora www.facerec.co.uk will be showcasing the new developments to its face recognition technology. Aurora has developed a new photo module called photoIMPORT for the faceREGISTER software, the latest technology that can register a student in about 1.5 seconds. Visitors can also talk to teachers on the stand who are already using the face recogniti… Continue

Added by Jenny Brannan on November 11, 2009 at 6:16pm — No Comments

Team UK success celebrated at AoC Conference - UK Skills leads debate on training world class practitioners

Colleges from England, Wales and Northern Ireland who supported Training Managers and WorldSkills Experts who accompanied Team UK to WorldSkills Calgary 2009 are to be honoured at a special ceremony at this year’s AoC Conference. Team UK, which is managed by UK Skills, competed at WorldSkills Calgary 2009, the biggest international skills competition in the world. In an event which saw 900 competitors, from 46 nations take part, Team UK won an amazing three gold and six bronze medals in skills… Continue

Added by Kate Moloughney on November 11, 2009 at 4:26pm — No Comments

WEYMOUTH COLLEGE LAUNCHES SEARCH FOR 2012 STUDENT AMBASSADORS

PRESS RELEASE 11 November 2009 WEYMOUTH COLLEGE LAUNCHES SEARCH FOR 2012 STUDENT AMBASSADORS WEYMOUTH College is launching a unique Student Ambassadors programme this Wednesday 11 November as part of its countdown to the 2012 Olympics. The College hopes the programme will become a case study in the Get Set Network of the 2012 Games and inspire other FE Colleges. Grace Liang a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Qingdao Municipal Government in China is making a special vis… Continue

Added by Abigail Perry on November 11, 2009 at 3:45pm — No Comments

TVET UK helps British colleges win multi-million pound deal

November 2009 Six British colleges have signed a multi-million pound deal to provide training in Kazakhstan. Engineering, ICT, teacher training and construction are among the courses which will help transform the economy of the oil-rich Central Asian state. The deal was brokered by TVET UK, an organisation representing technical and vocational education and equipment providers. “We’ve got 25 partnerships signed in Kazakhstan, the biggest single commercial transnational education project eve… Continue

Added by susan young on November 11, 2009 at 12:49pm — No Comments