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

“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
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

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
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

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
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

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
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
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

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
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
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’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 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

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
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
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
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
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