Keele University signs official partnership with Cheshire College South & West

A new partnership between Keele University in Staffordshire and a leading Cheshire college will create new opportunities for both students and college staff who are looking towards their future. 

The new agreement between Keele and Cheshire College South & West marks Keele’s first official partnership with a further education institution in the Cheshire region, with Cheshire College becoming the University’s sixth official college partner alongside colleges in Shropshire, Stoke-on-Trent, and the wider Staffordshire area. 

The relationship between Cheshire College and Keele has already been long established, with Keele’s student recruitment and access team having facilitated more than 50 activities with the College over the last year alone.  

Many academic colleagues, as well as outreach staff at Keele, have engaged with students at the College across its three campuses in Crewe, Ellesmere Port, and Chester as part of this longstanding relationship, with significantly increased numbers of applications to Keele’s undergraduate courses coming through from students from Cheshire College each year. 

The new partnership will enable an even closer working partnership between the two institutions and build on the existing outreach work that Keele has delivered with the College, opening up progression opportunities for the College’s students. In addition to this, the partnership will enable Continuing Professional Development courses and networking opportunities to be offered to staff at the College. 

Professor Mark Ormerod, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost at Keele University, welcomed the new partnership and expressed his enthusiasm for the expanded opportunities it will enable.

Professor Ormerod said: “We are delighted to establish this new partnership with Cheshire College South & West and are really looking forward to building on our existing relationship and establishing closer partnership working and collaboration with the College, and are excited by the opportunities this will bring to both organisations and to learners. 

“As a local, as well as a global, university, Keele’s relationship and engagement with our local and regional communities is really important to us. Having strong partnership activity with colleges across the region is essential to our mission to provide high quality educational opportunities to people from our local communities.”  

Lynne Rowland, Director of Higher Technical Education at Cheshire College, added: “Cheshire College has a long-standing relationship with Keele University and we are excited to develop this further through the new partnership. The partnership will allow us to collaborate on new opportunities, so that learners are getting the highest quality education, and we are fulfilling the skills needs in the area and beyond.”