College marketing team wins Silver at national awards

Bethh Oliver, Digital Marketing Officer at Barnsley College, won the Silver Award in the Outstanding Individual category and the College won the Silver Award in the Full-time Prospectus category at the awards ceremony which was held during the College Marketing Network’s Annual Conference. The FE First Awards recognise and celebrate the best in college marketing.

Bethh, 23, from Wombwell, Barnsley, was nominated for the Outstanding Individual Award for being a driving force in overhauling the digital and video marketing activity that the College implements. Bethh has worked hard to find methods where the College can expand its digital marketing, enabling it to interact with the target audience in a medium they regularly use.

The College’s full-time prospectus is an annual publication aimed at Year 11 students who want to study a vocational course or an apprenticeship. The 2017/18 prospectus was nominated for the award based of the success of a redesign process which was centred on stakeholder feedback received about the 2016/17 prospectus.

Chris Webb, Principal and Chief Executive of Barnsley College said:

“I’m delighted the Marketing, Communications and PR team has won two awards at the prestigious College Marketing Network awards.

“Bethh is a relatively new member of the team and she’s played an instrumental role in developing the digital and video marketing activity that the College does.

“The full-time prospectus is a key marketing tool for us. It shows potential students why choosing to study at Barnsley College will enable them to progress to Higher Education or employment.”

Rachel Smith, Chief Executive of the College Marketing Network added: “Congratulations to Barnsley College for being shortlisted in both the FE First Awards categories they entered this year. The College won two Silver Awards against stiff competition, building on the award for website development they won last year and demonstrating the all-round strength of the marketing team.”

In 2017, the College was highly commended in the Website Development category at the awards ceremony. The new website was launched in 2016, developed by College staff and Genius Division, a Barnsley-based branding and digital agency. Two of the directors of Genius Division, James Sheriff and Richard Keys, are former Barnsley College students.