Orpington College to be Centre of Financial Excellence

“

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) have announced that Orpington College, in conjunction with Quantica Training, have had their application approved to become a joint Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE).

The college will now have CoVE status in the Financial Services, Insurance and Accounting areas. The CoVE initiative has been introduced to meet the demands of the strong financial services sector in London and to ensure that there are sufficient numbers of qualified people to keep the industry booming.

This latest collaboration is an example of the kind of partnerships that the LSC and the London Region Financial Services Training Provider Forum (LRFSTPF) are trying to forge, through the cooperation of educational providers and employers to find the right type of training to provide business with its personnel requirements.

Key Partnerships

Marcus Luck of LSC London Central explained: “This collaboration is exactly the type of activity that the Forum was designed to facilitate and encourage. Employer engagement is a fundamental element of the LSC’s “agenda for change” and this is a great example of a progressive Further Education College tailoring its courses to meet the requirements of employers.”

Business Curriculum Manager at Orpington College, David Fagan, said: “Following my attendance at a Forum meeting I conceived the idea of a joint CoVE application. I wanted to develop a CoVE that would meet employer’s needs in the financial services sector but we lacked the specialist knowledge, expertise and employer contacts. A partnership with an established and innovative private training provider posed risks but these were outweighed by the advantages. I was aware of the work and reputation of Quantica Training so I approached my Principal Kevin Finnigan and set up a meeting with Dominic Kemple, Quantica Training’s Managing Director for some preliminary discussions.”

The CoVE initiative sounds like the ideal way to tackle employers” concerns about the perceived skills gap, in the UK workforce. The collaboration between employers and education providers holds the promise of a real opportunity to deliver the right kind of training to meet the specialist needs of UK employers.

Dan Atkinson

Should your institution be awarded CoVE status? Tell us in the FE Blog

“