Recruitment

Recruitment targets were exceeded for fulltime 16-18 and 19+ learners, with contract achievement standing at 104% and 106% respectively. The LSC funding target was also exceeded.

The HEFCE target of 1338 full-time equivalent HE learners was achieved. Many of these successes could be attributed to our growing work with employers, such as the local police, councils, Health Trust and many more SME organisations, particularly in the care and tourism-related sectors.

The popularity of work-related Foundation Degrees continued and the validation of seven new Foundation Degrees allowed our provision to be accessed by an even greater business market. Roll-out of the Government initiative Train2Gain (entitling the working population to receive their first full level 2 qualification training free of charge) proved equally successful, with a wide variety of NVQ Level 2 courses being delivered to 490 students working for 150 employers across the Fylde Coast.

Awards

At the annual Association of Colleges conference, the College won a national Beacon Award for the teaching and assessment of Beauty Therapy. In addition, it was highly commended for the national Beacon Award in Health and Community Care.

Students in the School of Catering and Food Production won the highly prestigious national Nestle Toque d’Or competition.

A student in the School of Hair, Beauty and Related Therapies won the silver medal at the UK Skills Finals in London. He will represent the UK at the World Skills Olympics in Canada in 2009.

For the second year running, the College’s Marketing Department achieved success at the annual Heist Awards, this time winning a bronze award in the Non -Student Recruitment Campaign for the unprecedented press coverage it received surrounding the launch of the country’s first Regional Gaming Academy.

Ofsted

In November 2007, the College was inspected by Ofsted as part of their regular process of making sure standards are high. Such is the track record in terms of quality and standards at Blackpool and The Fylde College that we are one of a small number of colleges nationally to receive a 'light touch' inspection. This means that the government's confidence in our performance is high, confirming a quality of service that you can have equal confidence in.

New Developments

Thirty senior managers of the College successfully undertook the CEL Leadership Excellence programme, aimed at succession planning and developing our leadership and management capacity.

Against stiff competition, the College won a prestigious contract, in partnership with Lancaster University, to design and deliver for BAE Systems a Foundation Degree in Project Management. Such is the uniqueness of the scheme, the engineering construction industry and other projects within BAE are now expressing an interest.

Significant improvements were made to the College estate including refurbishment of South Building at the University Centre to house the majority of the College’s HE programmes transferring here; creation of a state-of-the-art new Learning Resources Centre at the Bispham Campus; refurbishment of the Courtfields Restaurant and significant refurbishment and modification of the Cleveleys Building to house the School of Health, Care and Early Years.

Funding

A successful bid was made to HEFCE’s Strategic Development Fund for £4 million of funding towards the HE campus in central Blackpool and a bid to NWDA for match funding is underway. The architects for the project have been appointed and designs have been drawn up to RIBA stage C.

The College has been a local partner in the town’s successful bid for £10.8m worth of LEGI (Local Enterprise Growth Initiative) funding. The College’s key inputs centre on the development of an aviation academy, a construction facility and a creative industries incubator building, and embedding ‘enterprise’ in the curriculum with all the local high schools.

The College retained its Category A status as a financially robust college in spite of a difficult funding climate. The planned historic cost surplus of £550,000 was exceeded by £1,338,000.

Improved Learning

July saw more graduands than ever attend the College’s annual graduation ceremony to receive their awards whilst in June, more than 30 students were recognised for outstanding personal and academic achievement at the Student of The Year Ceremony.

In May, the College held its first e-learning conference at Preston’s Guild Hall. The event was organised as a staff development initiative, with the aim of driving forward the use of electronic learning technology to ensure learners continue to receive a quality learning experience relevant to their individual needs. Fifteen seminars took place throughout the day, with eminent speakers from the IT industry.