Unlocking a better future for everyone
THIS A-LEVEL SUPPLEMENT – IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE MANCHESTER COLLEGE – CELEBRATES SOME REMARKABLE SUCCESS STORIES ACROSS THE BOROUGH. HERE, PRINCIPAL LISA O’LOUGHLIN HIGHLIGHTS THE CRUCIAL ROLE COLLEGES PLAY IN EDUCATING THE WORKFORCE
I believe it is our duty to ensure our students are ready and prepared Lisa O’Loughlin, The Manchester College principal
WELCOME to this inspirational A- level supplement.
As principal of The Manchester College, I see every day how education and training is the key to unlocking a better future, whether you are aged 16 or 60, and never more so than during exam results week.
The Manchester College is the largest further education college in Greater Manchester and provides career-focused courses and industry standard training. With state-of-theart campuses, centres of excellence, specialist industry facilities, and hundreds of courses, there really is something for everyone.
Students have the option to progress on to higher education with our partner provider, UCEN Manchester, or they can earn while they learn with apprenticeships delivered at every level by our partner training provider Total People.
As such, we celebrate educational success in all its many forms. Results day is an opportunity to look at the myriad of routes and choices students have.
Increasingly, we are getting better at explaining the options available to young people and ensuring both students and parents understand the value of technical and vocational learning, but we also need to ensure that outstanding achievements in all qualifications are equally recognised and rewarded.
This year, students across our campuses certainly lived up to our #BeAmazing vision.
We saw an impressive 42 per cent increase in the number of A* and A grades at A-level gained by our students. The college’s A-level pass rate remained high at 94pc, with grades A*-C increasing by 6pc and those at AS-level increasing by 20pc.
Over 83pc of our Level 3 technical and vocational learners achieved the equivalent to high A-level grades, and we saw a 9pc increase in those achieving A-grade equivalents on vocational qualifications – which is a real testament to our hard-working students and also our amazing tutors.
Celebrations were in order for students such as Rouzbeh Dehnavi, who secured four amazing A grades in maths, further maths, physics and electronics after overcoming language and culture barriers, and will study a mechanical engineering degree at the University of Leeds next month.
Our future health and care workers, Sean Mahony and Nicole Dennis, secured a triple D* distinction in their Level 3 Extended Diploma in health and social care, the highest grade possible and the equivalent of a triple A* grade at A-level, to secure their places at the University of Salford and Manchester Metropolitan University. The demand for apprenticeships alone shows that firms and employers, while valuing a degree, also value the alternatives highly – the need for skilled technicians and vocational skills is a key priority for national and local government employers and all of us in education. In future, having a degree alone will not guarantee you a job or even a career. Technical, vocational and creative skills increasingly can. Colleges up and down the country are educating the country’s future workforce. I believe it is our duty to ensure our students are ready and prepared to fulfil these roles, whichever pathway or qualification they choose to complete, and to raise the stakes in valuing the skills they develop equally. At The Manchester College we’re enrolling now and there are many routes to success regardless of your background, age, experience and ability.
To learn more, visit tmc.ac.uk for college courses, ucenmcr.tmc.ac.uk for higher education, and totalpeople. co.uk for apprenticeships.