Fantastic Success Rate of Welsh FE Colleges Acknowledged at AoC Conference

Colleges in Wales have won a fantastic 20 per cent at this year’s prestigious Association of Colleges” (AoC) Beacon Awards.

Coleg Sir Gar (Carmarthenshire College), Deeside College, Neath Port Talbot College and Pembrokeshire College beat off tough competition from other FE, Sixth Form and Specialist colleges across the UK, picking up five awards between them, which were announced on the 16th of November 2005 at the Association of Colleges (AoC) Conference held at the ICC in Birmingham.

Carmarthenshire College was awarded with the Education and Learning Wales (ELWa) Award for College Engagement with Employers; Deeside College won the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) Award for Teaching Programmes in Occupational Health, Safety and Environmental Management.

Neath Port Talbot College won the Allied Irish Bank Award for teaching excellence in Business Administration. Pembrokeshire College did even better and picked up two awards; The British Education Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) Award for the Effective use of ICT and E-Learning to Enhance and Support Organisational Development and the MENCAP and RNIB Award for Students with learning difficulties and disabilities.

Great Success

Wales, which makes up 5 per cent of the UK’s further Education sector, is sponsored by educational charity The Association of Further Education colleges and institutions in Wales (FFORWM) – a national organisation that represents all 25 further education colleges and institutions in Wales.

John Graystone, Chief Executive of FFORWM said: “I am delighted that four Welsh FE Colleges have been recognised for their outstanding contribution to teaching and learning at a UK level. The fact that Wales has brought home 20 per cent of the Beacon Awards this year yet again, demonstrates that our colleges are punching well above their weight and is clear evidence of the huge commitment of college managers, staff and students.”

The AoC Beacon Awards line up was first established in 1994 in an attempt to recognise and reward outstanding and exemplary teaching and learning practices in FE colleges. The highly prized awards are open to all FE, Sixth form, specialist colleges including Agricultural Art, Design and Performing Arts colleges from across the whole of the UK.

Kavita Trivedi

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