<div style="float:right;width:50%;"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oeWk0CxblmI?si=46WOepQfs45F5Boe&quot; width="560"></iframe></div><p>It’s official, <a href="https://www.ucw.ac.uk/">University Centre Weston (UCW)</a> is among the best places to study at university level in the UK, according to the results of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) published on September 28th 2023.</p><p>The TEF panel considered the overall rating for UCW to be Gold, placing it among the country’s best university and college higher education providers. This recognition by the TEF Panel reflects UCW’s unwavering dedication to providing outstanding education to a diverse student body and places it within the top 20% in the UK and one of only six colleges nationally to achieve the status.</p><p>The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) is a national scheme run by the Office for Students (OfS) that aims to encourage higher education providers to improve and deliver excellence in the areas that students care about the most: teaching, learning and achieving positive outcomes from their studies.</p><p>The TEF does this by assessing and rating universities and colleges for excellence above a set of minimum requirements for quality and standards.</p><p>Providers that take part in the TEF receive an overall rating as well as two underpinning ratings – one for the student experience and one for student outcomes.</p><p>The ratings reflect the extent to which a provider delivers an excellent experience and outcomes for its mix of undergraduate students and across the range of its undergraduate courses and subjects.</p><p>Hundreds of higher education institutions in England, Wales and Scotland have had their teaching quality, learning environment, and student outcome data assessed by the TEF Panel and rated as either Gold, Silver, Bronze or Requires Improvement.</p><p>The TEF Panel judged that UCW delivers consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for its students, which is of the highest quality found in Britain.</p><p>Jacqui Ford, Interim Principal and Chief Executive of the Weston College Group expressed her delight, saying,</p><p>“This achievement represents a significant milestone for our region, confirming the excellence of our institution for higher education. Furthermore, it underscores the Weston College Group’s positive impact on learners both locally and nationally. Attaining Gold status also validates UCW’s approach of seamlessly blending high-quality academic learning with practical, career-oriented education, providing our students and university partners with confidence in our offerings.”</p><p>Ford extended her gratitude to the dedicated staff at UCW, Weston College, and partner universities, recognising their instrumental role in achieving this remarkable status. She noted:</p><p>"Our journey to this point would not have been possible without the invaluable support of my predecessor Sir Paul Phillips who led the Weston College Group since 2001 until his retirement in August 2023, our partner universities, the University of the West of England, Bath Spa University, and Hartpury University, as well as UCW’s Vice Principal for Higher Education, Sadie Skellon. The dedication of our staff, and governors, and the collaborative efforts with the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership and North Somerset Council have also been essential in reaching this remarkable achievement.”</p><p>UCW’s Vice Principal for Higher Education, Sadie Skellon added:</p><p>“The TEF Panel has recognised the efforts of the talented and dedicated students and staff that we have at UCW and across the Weston College Group, and the value of the outstanding support we provide.</p><p>“UCW is committed to being an inclusive institution, promoting participation from students from all backgrounds and supporting students to ensuring positive outcomes for all. We have strategic aims to articulate this and are pleased the OfS has acknowledged that UCW ‘tailors provision and succeeds in its aim of supporting underrepresented groups of students from its region to achieve in their studies’.</p><p>In addition to praise for the student experience, UCW was praised for its supportive learning environment, offering students access to a wide range of high-quality academic support tailored to their needs. The institution has also demonstrated a commitment to embedding employability and entrepreneurship into its course content, preparing students for successful futures.</p><p>UCW’s dedication to research, innovation, scholarship, professional practice, and employer engagement further enhances the academic experience, contributing to the institution’s outstanding standing in the TEF.</p><p>This Gold rating in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework solidifies UCW’s status as a leading institution committed to excellence in higher education.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Weston College recently took part in the 2023 Planet Earth Games, an <a href="https://www.aoc.co.uk/">Association of Colleges (AoC)</a> competition which uses games and challenges to engage colleges and students in climate action.</p><p>The AoC and Planet Earth Games <a href="https://planetearthgames.org/2023-college-event-launched/#:~:text=Promo… this as a “Global Movement”</a>, and have co-produced a project aimed at educating, promoting and advocating for colleges in climate action, and sustainable consumption this academic year.</p><p>The College had many activities taking place across the week, particularly in the <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/engin…; and <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/cours… Practice</a> departments.</p><p>The Faculty of Inclusive Practice (FIP) launched the ‘Wheels to Work’ campaign, where a number of staff cycled from Yatton and Clevedon through to Weston. Alongside this, free bike checks, services and cleans were offered to learners and staff.</p><p>Extension studies and Engineering also took part in a Beach Clean across Weston Seafront, to improve the beach experience for the community and help preserve the coastline.</p><p>Live salads and 100 tree saplings were planted at Butcombe farm by the learners, to assist with the environment and carbon emissions.</p><p>The engineering learners also collected reusable plastics, and moulded them into various items. The learners from FIP then sold them in their pop-up shop.</p><p>Jo Philpott, Vice Principal – Curriculum Delivery &amp; Technical Innovation, commented on the success: “We are incredibly proud of the dedication our learners had towards the Planet Earth Games initiative and the impact this has had since. We believe it is incredibly important to do our part when it comes to sustainability, and AoC’s Planet Earth Games is the ideal way to get learners engaged. I’d like to say a huge thanks to everyone involved!”</p>

<p>Weston College hosted its first ever ‘Reverse Careers Fair’ at the beginning of this month, as part of My Future Month, for the learners with SEND within the Faculty of Inclusive Practice (FIP).</p><p>Each student created poster boards showcasing themselves, their accolades and their skills, for employers from across the South West to review and find potential new members of their workforce.</p><p>We caught up with Nina Sinclair, the Lead Employment Navigator for Autism, who co-ordinated the event. She told us about the success and process of the reverse careers fair:</p><p>“We knew this was an important event to arrange for the leaners within the faculty. In my experience of attending the ‘normal’ job fairs, it’s really apparent that it’s not accessible. Yes, it’s physically accessible to some degree, but when you take into account the sensory and social demands, the layout and navigating, and the confidence it takes to put yourself in front of an employer in that manner, you realise that someone who is neurodivergent could find that incredibly difficult, particularly when they are trying to put their best self forward. Because of the impact that this can have, it almost feels as though they are competing with people who don’t have those barriers, and it struck me as being extremely unfair.</p><p>We heard about reverse career fairs previously and had wanted to implement something similar for learners with SEND during My Future Month, to support their progression of careers and employability. The idea of creating the poster boards seemed ideal, as the learners are still able to showcase their talents to employers, without needing to talk directly to them, or even be in the room if it felt too demanding on the day.</p><p>Furthermore, we felt flipping around the ‘traditional’ layout of a careers event would allow the employers to feel more approachable and human to the learners, and encourage those meaningful conversations that can lead to brilliant outcomes.</p><p>We knew we had to take the leap and arrange this inspiring event to take place following the constant learner feedback that we receive, including struggling to access community and college wide events, as well as virtual ones.</p><p>As a college, we’ve been offering <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/neurodiversity-autism-training-employers">Incl… Employer workshops</a>, to educate and improve employer’s understanding of inclusivity towards becoming more neurodivergence within their business, and potential employees too. We took this chance to self-reflect and practice what we preach within the college, to improve upon what we deliver to learners with SEND.</p><p>When considering which employers to invite to this event, we wanted to ensure it was bespoken to the learners showcasing themselves. To achieve this, we found out from the learners which area and industry they would like to work in, and then asked the Business Growth Team to reach out to employers which fit the description and invite them along. We then knew which employer to direct to which learner or poster board, to encourage conversations with meaningful outcomes for both participants.</p><p>As well as the employers which attended, we also had some representatives from the college’s <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/apprenticeships?utm_source=ma… Team</a> to present to the learners that they also have that option, but also to present to the apprenticeship team that even though our learners may require extra support in some areas, they are strong candidates for apprenticeships.</p><p>Something we desperately wanted to avoid was the idea that this would be ‘segregating’ the learners with SEND from the other learners. In order to combat this, we purposely planned this event for a week after Careers Fest, a more ‘traditional’ careers fair held by the college. If the learners attended Careers Fest but felt overwhelmed, they knew they had the Reverse Careers Fair which would be better suited to their needs, but still allow the opportunity to talk to employers and put themselves out there.</p><p>The highlight of the event for us was before the event had even happened, walking through the classrooms of the different courses within the faculty, and seeing the learners working on their boards, seeing their excitement, and the conversations that were taking place about their employability opportunities. It was fantastic to see.</p><p>Since the event took place, we’ve had some great feedback from employers, the apprenticeship team, and learners.</p><p>One employer said: “I was able to talk to several students about career progression, job opportunities and also aspirations and all came across really positive and enthusiastic. Thank you for the invitation, and I hopefully look forward to working with your team and group in the future.”</p><p>Chloe from the Apprenticeships Team, said: “This was one of the best events we have attended to date; it gave us a chance to meet a variety of neurodiverse learners in a safe space and have meaningful conversations about how they can take their next steps to getting an apprenticeship!”</p><p>As well as this, we have employers coming back to run CV and money management workshops, and the apprenticeship team want to work closer with the faculty – we know we’re going to have strong outcomes for the learners.</p><p>We wanted to take the Weston College career strategy and adapt it to fit the needs of the learners with SEND and that’s exactly what we’ve achieved; we cannot wait for the next one! This model of best practice in SEND will be shared locally and nationally through our Centre for Excellence in SEND”</p><p>Click to find out more about the <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/cours… of Inclusive Practice</a>, or <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/employers?utm_source=main-menu&amp;utm_medium=… you and your business can get involved</a>.</p>