College wins top award at annual education ceremony

West Lothian College has picked up an outstanding employer award at the prestigious Higher Education Awards. The college was named winner on the Outstanding Employer Engagement in the colleges category at a ceremony at the Double Tree Hilton in Glasgow. Principal and chief executive Mhairi Harrington OBE said:“West Lothian College actively engages with employers and institutions both locally and internationally with the aim of creating opportunities for our learners to develop employability skills and engage with potential future employers during their time at college. We are honoured to receive this award which demonstrates our commitment to allowing our students to experience different cultures and broaden their horizons through educational and international opportunities.” West Lothian College recently partnered with the Malaysian Economic Planning Unit on an initiative designed so that partners could enhance vocational programmes and outcomes for learners through curriculum development driven by closer collaboration with employers. The partnership forms part of an International Skills Partnership, with the project being funded and supported by both the British Council (UK) and the Economic Planning Unit (Malaysia), and has seen a group of eight West Lothian College students work with Mitsubishi on a project - four of which were then given the opportunity to travel to Malaysia and present the outcomes of their project.