A Teesside college has reached the finals of a national competition after being recognised for its outstanding delivery of apprenticeships.
Redcar & Cleveland College has been shortlisted in the 2016 Apprenticeships 4 England Training Provider Awards, which reward organisations for their enterprise, innovation and creativity in this form of training.
The organisation has been put forward along with three other colleges – Brooklands, Barnsley and Kirklees – in the college category of the awards. Winners of each category will be announced at a prestigious black tie award ceremony to be held at the Emirates Stadium in London on February 25.
Redcar & Cleveland College was commended for the breadth and quality of its apprenticeships, which take in subjects from accounting and retail to beauty therapy and construction. The judges were also impressed with several innovations designed to help apprentices with their studies, including e-learning technology that enables students to update their portfolios and engage in group discussions remotely via their smart phone or laptop.
Steven Winterburn, apprenticeships manager at Redcar & Cleveland College, said: “We’re thrilled to be named as a finalist in a national scheme which recognises the value that education providers place on apprenticeships. This is a vitally important form of training desired by students, employers and policymakers and we have tailored our offering to meet this demand.
“We now spend 34% of our Skills Funding Agency (SFA) funding allocation on apprenticeships, which is more than any other Teesside college, and we’ve increased the volume and range of our training provision in this area. Despite the sharp increase in apprenticeship starts at the college, we’ve maintained our success rates and we’ll continue to work with employers to meet the skills needs of industry.”
With the Government aiming to create another three million apprenticeships by 2020, Redcar & Cleveland College has focused heavily on promoting its offering in this area and building partnerships with employers across a variety of sectors, including IT, engineering, manufacturing, green energy and sport. The organisation also offers apprenticeships and other vocational training courses at its Oil & Gas International Training Academy, which is based at the Corporation Road campus.
For further information, please contact please call 01642 473 132 or visit http://www.cleveland.ac.uk.