College wins top award for equality work

West Lothian College was named as the winner of the Advancing Equality Award at the prestigious College Development Awards 2016 recently.

The annual awards recognise and celebrate innovation, excellence, creativity and commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion by colleges, their staff, students and partners.

West Lothian College beat competition from the City of Glasgow College and Dundee and Angus College to secure the top accolade.

In the academic year 2015/16 more than 100 students from West Lothian College travelled overseas to undertake work placements or study. This work had a positive impact on students with results showing that 86 per cent of these students successfully attained the qualification.

Mhairi Harrington OBE, principal of West Lothian College said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won this prestigious award. It is a great testament to the excellent work which has been taking place at West Lothian College in advancing equality locally, nationally and internationally. Our flagship two-year project Improving Skills through International Learning Exchanges (ISTILE) is designed to offer disadvantaged learners the opportunity to study and work in an overseas environment.

“At the same time it offers the teaching team the opportunity to research and report about financial deprivation across Europe and offer advice and recommendations around best practice when it comes to supporting young people who face barriers to learning caused by financial deprivation. West Lothian College has gained an excellent reputation in the UK and internationally for developing and delivering overseas experiences for learners.”