Why Choose Us
Beacon Award Success
LSC praises Blackpool College’s Beacon status
Blackpool and The Fylde College in Lancashire has won a coveted Association of Colleges Beacon Award for its forward-thinking equality and diversity strategy. This is the second time the college has won the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) sponsored Equality and Diversity Beacon Award, having picked up the prize in 2003.
Blackpool and the Fylde College in Lancashire won the LSC Award for Equality and Diversity for its wide range of initiatives that address a range of equality and diversity issues, from the under-achievement of young men and homophobia to its staff development. The college gained praise from the judges for the integration of all policies relating to equality and diversity and good staff training and development.
Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVE)
The CoVE programme is central to the Government’s task of improving skills for employment and national competitiveness. The programme is primarily focused on delivering skills at level 3 and will enable the development, maintenance and delivery of high quality, specialist provision across a range of vocational areas .
What are CoVEs?
CoVEs are an incredible honour to receive as they are only awarded to the best providers in the country who demonstrate excellence. These premiership providers must demonstrate close links between other colleges, other training providers, business partners, other employment interests and communities. They aim to produce appropriately qualified and skilled workers with excellent employment and career prospects which meet the needs of the economy. CoVEs will focus on enhancing the skills and careers of those already in work, enhancing the employability of new entrants to the labour market, and the employment prospects of those seeking work (including self-employment).
They will enable providers to develop, maintain and deliver high quality, specialist provision across a range of new and traditional occupations. They will be innovative in delivering learning that develops both specialist and related general skills. CoVEs will work closely with business and industry to deliver industry-relevant, economically important provision of a high standard.
To be the recipient of one CoVE award is an incredible achievement but Blackpool and The Fylde College has been awarded three: Automotive Manufacturing, Customer Service Quality and Building Services. No other college in the area has received such an accolade, in fact one would need to travel to Leyland or Blackburn to find the next nearest Centre of Vocational Excellence College.
Cove successes
Inspection Success
Every 5 years the Government carries out a thorough inspection of the management, support and teaching quality of all Further Education Colleges. The results from these inspections can be found at: www.ofsted.gov.uk.
Ofsted inspection reports are probably the best way to judge the quality of teaching and learning in colleges in England. In November 2007, the College was inspected by Ofsted and the quality of our provision was designated as outstanding.
Other areas deemed 'outstanding' in the inspectors' report included::
- social and educational inclusion
- support for learners
- leadership and vision
- resources and accommodation
- financial management and value for money
- arrangements to meet learner and community needs
- links with major industries
- approaches to equality of opportunity
- progress in improving the areas for development identified at the last inspection
- developing our provision to better meet local, regional and national priorities
- one of only 20 colleges nationally that demonstrate national best practice in Construction, Maritime and Engineering, confirming our position in these areas as 'Grade 1' - outstanding
