Association of College Beacon Awards 2020/21

The awards celebrate the best and most innovative practice among UK further education colleges. The aim of the awards is to demonstrate and promote the far-reaching impact of colleges on their students and the communities they serve. The commended and winning case studies will be used to increase understanding of colleges’ contribution to educational skills policy and economic and social development.

The co-designed, co-delivered and co-assessed Btec level 3 in Architectural Construction and Engineering Scholarship is an exemplary model for bridging the gaps between academia and the construction industry. The 2-year programme offers selected candidates a 45-day work placement, a bursary and state of the art laptop and 5 bespoke modules, with the aim of getting and the students ready for the world of work.

Reaching this stage is a fantastic achievement in its own right and something the college attributes to the outstanding support given by Kier as one of the first industry partners. We facilitated eight student placements, on site with our Birley Fields, SODA and 11 York Street projects before the pandemic and to guarantee all students were given the work placement opportunities the SODA project team hosted a virtual work experience week in December for all twelve students. The week involved a presentation and videos from all our professionals and a project challenge. Mentored by the SODA Site Managers, three student groups showcased their amazing design, commercial, planning, SHEA and project management skills gained from the talks given.

This month we supported the college, sharing testimonials and our stories of the excellent students we have hosted over the past two years as part with a virtual assessment. We think it’s a unique innovative approach to learning and hope the judges do too.

• 

•