Exeter College has been awarded the ‘Gold’ standard for delivering consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for its University Level students.

The coveted gold award highlights that the college’s Centre for University Level Studies, which offers a wide range of degree level courses, is among the best in the country for teaching and employment outcomes.

The results of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), published today, provide a picture of excellence in teaching and learning in UK higher education.

A panel of expert judges awarded Exeter College gold for ‘delivering consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for its students’ and found it to be among the ‘highest quality found in the UK’.

And the results and the underlying evidence are designed to help students thinking about which university or college to apply to.

Exeter College is praised for its:

• outstanding employment outcomes which are supported by an effective strategic focus on vocational and professional education allowing students to acquire skills knowledge and understanding that are highly valued by employers
• teaching, learning and assessment practices which provide scope for outstanding levels of stretch that ensure all students are significantly challenged to achieve their full potential
• optimum levels of contact time which secure the highest levels of student engagement
• outstanding individualised learning which is enhanced through an effective personal tutor system
• an embedded college culture that facilitates, recognises and rewards excellent teaching
• a range of outstanding digital and industry-specific facilities actively used by students and which impact positively on enhancing their learning.

The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) was introduced by the Government to build evidence about the performance of the UK’s world-class higher education sector.

Each provider was rated Gold, Silver or Bronze. The TEF awards were decided by an independent panel of experts including academics, students and employer representatives. Drawing on national data, and evidence submitted by each university or college, the TEF measures excellence in three areas: teaching quality, the learning environment and the educational and professional outcomes achieved by students.

John Laramy, Exeter College Principal and Chief Executive, said: “I am extremely proud that we have been awarded the very top accolade of Gold for the outstanding teaching and learning for our degree level students. We really do our degree level courses differently at our Centre for University Level Studies by putting our students first and this is a fantastic achievement for the team here at the college. I would like to thank all of our staff who have made this success possible.”

“On a personal note, as someone who started my own university level journey here, albeit many years ago, it is a true achievement to celebrate for the whole Exeter College community and the students who we are here to support to change their lives.”

The Universities Minister, Jo Johnson, said: “These results, highlighting the extraordinary strengths of our higher education system, will help students choose which university or college to study at.

“The Teaching Excellence Framework is refocusing the sector’s attention on teaching – putting in place incentives that will raise standards across the sector and giving teaching the same status as research.”

The Centre for University Levels Studies is a critical and growing part of our learning community at Exeter College. Doing a degree level course with us and our partners is a different experience and one we’re proud to offer. That’s why we can say that our Centre for University Level Studies really does do degrees differently.

Applications are open over the summer for our degree level courses for entry in September 2017. Apply now to secure your place and join those who have already applied to start with us. See our website for more: www.exe-coll.ac.uk/HE

Exeter College Raises a Record Breaking £21k for local charity Devon Air Ambulance

Students and staff at Exeter College have raised more than £21,000 for local charity Devon Air Ambulance Trust – the most ever raised for a college charity.

In total, they have raised an amazing £21,313 since September 2016, far exceeding their target of £15,000. It has been a whole college effort with a wide variety of events taking place including the annual Festival of Carols, sponsored skydives, cycle challenges and the more traditional bake sales and fairs.

Students and staff recently presented a cheque to the charity. Much of the fundraising has also been led by Exeter College’s Student Representative Committee (SRC). The SRC is formed of Exeter College students who are elected to represent their student body to make the college truly representative and to support in activities such as this.

John Laramy, Principal and Chief Executive said: “I’m delighted that our students, led by the Student Representative Committee and the college staff, have set a stunning record by raising more than £21,000 for Devon Air Ambulance.

“I believe this record breaking achievement provides clear evidence of the outstanding qualities and values of young people who choose to become students at our college. This year's students have set the bar very high for next year, but I know they will be up for the challenge.”

Fundraising Manager Tracy Owen added: “We have been extremely impressed with how engaged both the students and staff have been with the Charity. The hard work and commitment they have demonstrated to their fundraising is a credit to the College, which has resulted in a tremendous amount of funds being raised for which we are immensely grateful.”

Next year, the college is excited to announce its chosen charity is Mind. This charity was voted for by students and staff. Mind provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. They campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding.

If you have any exciting ideas of how we can beat our previous fundraising total then please get in touch via Twitter, you can find us @ExeterCollege.

It has been a busy term for Media and Performing Arts students and staff with our end of year final performances and shows. A highlight has been the hugely successful Extended Diploma Performing Arts students performance of ‘Dreams of Anne Frank’ at the Barnfield Theatre. Music, Performing Arts and Arts Management learners ran the Inspire Stage at the Exeter Respect Festival which was a fantastic opportunity for our learners to perform at this event and support the stage management.

We are very excited to have launched the Performing Arts Academy which is now open for applications to learners on Performing Arts courses and aims to give learners a diverse range of career enhancing masterclasses, trips and practical workshops and showcase opportunities to industry professionals.

Dance learners recently performed at Exeter Phoenix showcasing their work from across A Level, Certificate, Subsidiary Diploma, 90 Credit and Extended Diploma courses demonstrating amazing talent and creativity. Our Dance students have also been involved in interacting with the STRETCH installation at Exeter Cathedral working on their site specific pieces.

Media learners recently attended the the annual Oscars Award Evening which celebrates exceptional student work across all Media and Film courses on Level 2 and Level 3 courses

This year twenty of our students have achieved international honours in a range of sports form Rugby Union and Hockey to Dragon Boating. Special mention should go to Marcus Street who represented England Rugby at the under 20’s World Cup, despite still being 18! He is an outstanding talent and one to look out for in the future.

Emily Piper – Dragon Boat Racing

Emily has been a member of our ACES Academy for the last two years and during this time she has been selected for the Great Britain Ladies Dragon Boat squad.

Emily said:

The dragon boat racing season ended about 2 months ago, and for that season at my club, I was awarded the most improved under 18. I am the fastest under 18 in the club with a time of 3.07 over 500m, 12 seconds faster than my time last year. I have had some recent success in the European Championships in Rome earlier this year, bringing home 3 silver and 3 bronze medals’

Women’s Rugby

Our Women’s Rugby Academy, in partnership with Exeter Chiefs, has made huge progress this year. 14 girls are benefiting from regular training sessions, strength and conditioning, AASE fixtures, local development sessions with other FE Colleges and a partnership with the University of Exeter, who themselves are coached by the England under 20 coach Jo Yapp, thus providing fantastic potential opportunities for our players to showcase their skills.

Football

Our partnership with Exeter City Football Club continues to thrive with Futsal now under the Academy banner. With our strength in depth as well as more local fixtures, this year we entered our 1st team into the AoC Sport Category 1 league and moved our 2nd team from Category 3 into Category 2. This allows much higher standards of football for both teams against quality opposition. Our 1st teams and our Women’s team play in Exeter City Kit provided by the club as part of our partnership.

Tennis

Training started at the beginning of September ahead of the AEGON Senior student & AOC competitions in conjunction with the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).

On November 2nd our highest rated tennis players at the college travelled to Tarka Tennis Centre in Barnstaple for the AOC Sport regional Singles competition. 7 students took part (3 girls and 4 boys). The level of tennis at this event was outstanding with all players competing hard throughout the day, the great news was that Ben Greatrex and Fredrick James will represent the South West at the AOC National Championships in April.

In the AEGON competition it was the boy’s team up first where 4 of our students took on Truro College for a place in the knockout stages of the competition in January. The fixture took place at the South Devon Tennis Centre in Ivybridge, our team competed hard and it was a tough match with Truro eventually coming through to move onto the knockout stages.

Emily Bale – Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS)

Emily Bale is studying the BTEC Extended Diploma in Sport and is from Barnstaple. In September, she was awarded a place on the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme. Emily is a GB international Rifle Shooter. She has two brothers who have also competed in the sport. Jack, who was 1.4 points off winning a Quota place for the Rio Olympics at the European Games back in February and her other brother Dean, who was a member of the College ACES Academy and made the Junior World Cup final twice, as well as the World University Championship final.

Emily says:

My brothers have been such an Inspiration to my career, my end goal is to compete and win an Olympic medal and I'm well onto the pathway to do so in the future. I've taken part in previous talent identification programmes called Target Tokyo, I made it into the third and final stage. My next competition is in Luxembourg in December called RIAC which is a 10 meter international match, followed by Intershoot which is another 10 meter competition in February held in the Netherlands.”

AoC Championships

This academic year, after various regional tournaments, the Sports Faculty is exceptionally proud that an unprecedented 86 students will be competing at the National Championships in Nottingham which surpasses last year’s total and could mean Exeter College have the largest contingent of students at the 2017 National Championships. The college took students for Men’s Football, Men’s basketball, Netball, Women’s Hockey, Women’s Rugby, Cricket, four Golfers, five Cross Country contestants, four Badminton and two Tennis players, all who won their respective regional competitions. We are delighted that the South West placed second in the overall competition, with Exeter College students making a huge contribution to this result.

Basketball

Our Basketball team finished fourth in Division 1 of the Exeter & District Basketball League (E&DBL) after winning promotion last academic year and reached the semi-final of the AoC Sport National Cup beating SGS in the quarter Final. In April the team won the E&D men’s inter divisional championship for the second year running.

The faculty of Construction and the Built Environment have recently been involved in a variety of practical community projects with primary schools in and around Exeter, supporting them to enhance their learner’s environments and allow our own learners the opportunity to put into practice skills learnt in college.

Steve Elwell recently took a group of Level 1 Painting and Decorating learners to Kennford Primary School to decorate an old mobile classroom used as an outdoor classroom.

Kennford and Kenton Primary schools are part of a trust utilising shared services and teaching staff from Kennford Primary, Steve Elwell and his learners moved onto Kenton Primary school to renovate the outside play area, making the area a brighter space for the children to play in.

Future community projects include Whipton Barton Primary, Woodwater Primary and Exwick Heights Primary Schools, these projects will start in September at Whipton Barton which will incorporate refurbishment of two classrooms and corridors lasting the first term. There are other community projects and work experience activities being investigated, these include the Estate Department at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital Wonford and Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM).

If you would like to learn more about our construction courses, please click here, or why not come along to our next open event?

Exeter College students are celebrating after achieving the college's best ever International Baccalaureate (IB) results.

Five college students achieved 40+ points – the equivalent of five A Levels at A/A* – putting them in the top five to ten per cent of students in the entire world.

A third of the college’s IB students scored an impressive 36+ points, meaning that they achieved the very highest results, equivalent to more than 3 As at A Level. At the same time, students celebrated a remarkable 100 per cent pass rate.

The exceptional results mean many of Exeter College’s IB students are going on to fulfil their dreams of studying at world-leading universities.

One student achieved 44 points, similar to achieving five A*s at A Level, and will gain their place to read German at Wadham College at Oxford University. Others have won their places to read a wide range of subjects at Russell Group universities, including Law at Bristol, Biochemistry at Imperial College, University of London, and Marine Biology at Exeter.

John Laramy, Principal and CEO of Exeter College said:

I would like to congratulate the IB students and their teachers on today’s stunning results. These are our best ever results with a number of students gaining truly remarkable outcomes. We have run the IB for approaching 20 years and are now in the international listings for the successful delivery of the challenging IB programme. Our vision as a college is to be an ‘exceptional’ college and the IB students have supported our college vision by delivering ‘exceptional’ results.”

The average points scored by Exeter College students was 34, four points above the world average of 30 (2016).

Emma Fielding, Assistant Principal, said:

We could not be more proud of these fantastic achievements. The IB is an exceptionally challenging global qualification, both in terms of the high academic level it requires and the commitment and breadth it demands of young people. Our students and staff have worked tremendously hard to achieve these world class outcomes and we are delighted to be able to celebrate their success”.

Why not study the International Baccalaureate (IB) at Exeter College?

We were one of the first colleges in the country to offer this challenging course and our results over the last two decades have been excellent. You’ll be in small classes with experienced, supportive and inspiring teachers.

Find out more about studying the IB with Exeter College here.

Debbie Spencer completed a Graphic Communications Foundation Degree with our Centre for University Level Studies, gaining a distinction in May 2016.

Debbie chose Exeter College because it was close to home, meaning it would fit in around her children’s lives too. Debbie describes her experience with us as “life changing” and goes on to say: “I’ve set up my own business, I can go and work in an agency. It’s opened up a whole world for me really.” Since graduating Debbie has launched her business and done freelance design work including creating a brand for a start-up business.

Not one to rest on her laurels and always keen to learn more of her craft, Debbie has also done work placements at the Met Office and local design agency, Buddy Creative. Not only was she awarded Art and Design student of the year at our annual student awards evening but she was also awarded a runners up prize for a national competition with Design Bridge. The brief: “a compelling, bold and brilliant design solution for something that the entrant feels passionate about.” Debbie says she went away and thought about what was important to her, having worked with children before, a campaign for a children’s charity was the obvious choice. She says she wanted to get across the heart breaking statistics in a way that would engage the audience. “There are so many stats out there, it just goes over your head, even though its heart wrenching.” Once entries were shortlisted, it was down to the judges to decide. Asa Cook, Creative Director at the Design Bridge London Studio says, “The Save the Children idea was so hard hitting. It really stopped us in our tracks and made us think about the inequality of the world and made us want to redress the balance. The genius of this idea lay not in directly telling us what to think, but in demonstrating the imbalance in an engaging way.” Debbie said the whole experience boosted her confidence. “It was lovely to feel like all those sleepless nights and all that hard work had come to something. It’s given me the confidence to approach people, they did interview me for a job but unfortunately I don’t want to live in London.”

Having only graduated a year ago, Debbie has certainly made a success of her new career. When asked what the favourite part of her job is, Debbie said she loves working on client briefs, most recently the brand for a start-up company: “He was so positive about it. I felt really proud when I saw it launched on the internet, you feel really proud that you have done something that they are happy with and that will work for them.”

You can see more of Debbie’s work on her website: spencer-design.com

To read more about Design Bridge, please visit: designbridge.com

If you would like to join our alumni network or want a copy of our alumni magazine EXE, then please sign up here.

Exeter College is celebrating a record breaking year by welcoming their 1,000th apprentice.

The 1,000th apprentice is Jordanna Broom who is a higher engineering apprentice at the University of Exeter. Jordanna enjoyed her initial engineering training and has decided to pursue her career through one of the college’s higher level apprenticeships.

To celebrate this milestone and the ongoing relationship between the college and the university, a memento has been made by the University’s engineering apprentices and presented to the college.

The University engineering apprentices have worked on creating the sculpture using iconic engineering parts, fashioning a piece of work in the shape of the number 1,000. University of Exeter apprentices Ashley White, James Rutley and Jordanna Broom designed, created and presented the sculpture to Mike Blakeley, Director of Apprenticeships at Exeter College.

This milestone marks a significant moment in the relationship between the university and the college. The college has been working with the university on the apprenticeship levy, the recruitment of new apprentices and the training of existing staff through higher level apprenticeships.

“We look forward to continuing and strengthening our partnership with Exeter College to embed apprenticeships into our workforce.” said Jonathan Cresswell who is the Head of Apprenticeships at the University of Exeter.

“We are delighted to help give young people from the South West a foot on the career ladder and give them valuable experience of the world of work.

Apprenticeships encourage continuous improvement, enhance the diversity of our workforce and help to increase social mobility. The apprentice benefits from earning a competitive wage, and gains valuable on the job experience along with a recognised qualification. As an employer we benefit from apprentices as they bring a fresh approach to their jobs, add value, and have a positive impact on the rest of our workforce.”

Mike Blakeley, Director of Apprenticeships at Exeter College said

“We are delighted that we are on course for a record breaking year in terms of the number of young people who have taken up an apprenticeship programme through Exeter College this year.

“We pride ourselves on our exceptional relationships with employers and we have worked closely with the University of Exeter to create an apprenticeship provision that is truly employer responsive, so it is fitting that our 1,000th apprentice is employed by them.”

Exeter College is working with a network of nearly 900 employers helping them to plan their future workforce through using their apprenticeship levy, training existing staff through higher level apprenticeships and offering a full recruitment and training service to employers.

Click here to find out more about studying an Apprenticeship at Exeter College.

All full time students, aged 16-18 years old who live outside Exeter* are entitled to help with getting to college through our subsidised travel scheme. You will be contacted by the college in June if you are eligible for the scheme.

Students will be assessed by the college automatically using their application data and those who fit the criteria will then be entitled to join the Exeter College travel scheme (providing they fit the criteria). The contribution that students pay towards their travel pass for 2017-2018 will be £580 per year, or £210 for the first two terms and £190 for the summer term. Those with a household income between £16,000 and £23,000 may be eligible for assistance paying for transport. Those with a household income of less than £16,000 may be eligible for a free travel pass. This can be obtained by applying to the Exeter College Bursary Fund. Students who live within three miles of college but do not live within a reasonable walking distance may be eligible for a contribution towards the cost of their travel tickets if eligible for the Exeter College bursary fund.

Exeter College also runs a dedicated private transport service for students travelling from Great Torrington and South Molton costing £580 for the year paid annually, or £210 for the first two terms and £190 for the summer term. All travel scheme payments are made online by debit or credit card. For full details on how the scheme works visit our website

www.exe-coll.ac.uk/travelpasses

* Out of the Exeter City Council boundary

Exeter College 16-19 Bursary Fund

The Exeter College Bursary Fund is available to support students who may find that finances are a barrier to coming to college. Young people in care, care leavers, those on Income Support (or Universal Credit) and disabled young people in receipt of both Employment Support Allowance and Disability Living Allowance (or Personal Independence Payment) receive yearly bursaries of £1,200. These are paid on an individual basis and arranged through an appointment with the Student Welfare Leader.

Other students facing financial difficulties whose family are in receipt of a means tested benefit or have a total household income of less than £23,000 may also apply to the Bursary Fund for help with essential course costs. This can include travel, books, equipment, kit and uniform, stationery and essential course trips. Students may also be eligible for free meals whilst they are studying at college. This is a limited fund and so not all costs can always be covered, however please apply and the student will be notified by email of their award.

Student Financial Support application forms can be downloaded from the college website or collected from Greystone House, Hele Road site. Income evidence or proof of eligibility must be provided with each application in order for an award to be made. For more information on the Bursary Fund contact the Student Welfare Administrators or email bursary@exe-coll.ac.uk. Returning students who have previously received assistance from the Bursary Fund will need to reapply for 2017-2018.

It is important to us that we listen to our students. The aim of Learner Voice is to give students a real say in the way that they learn and the experiences they have at college. The Learner Voice programme helps the college gain a clear picture of what it is that students want and how best they learn, by giving us a forum at which we can hear their ideas, comments and concerns and…ACT ON THEM! Students can get involved in feeding back their views by becoming a tutor representative and taking part in Learner Voice, getting involved in the Student Representative Committee (SRC) or giving their feedback via our student surveys.

As well as asking questions about satisfaction, course quality and support, we use our Learner Voice and the SRC to find out what students love about college and how we can improve. Students meet within their faculties throughout the year and with the Principal twice a year and through the year we feedback how their views are making an impact.

Developments this year as a direct result of Learner Voice feedback included new IT facilities, new food options in the college cafes, table tennis tables across College, extra water fountains, and social seating areas in buildings.

The SRC is an organisation run by students for students and the elected officers and student governors’ work incredibly hard to ensure the voices of the students are heard. The SRC also organise campaigns, awareness events and information days about issues that are important to students.

In May, we held the annual Learner Voice review and celebration lunch in the @34 restaurant to thank tutor representatives and the SRC for all their hard work and feedback.

Students’ fundraising success

The Student Representative Committee (SRC), in collaboration with tutor groups and departments, have raised a brilliant £20,911* to date for this year’s chosen college charity Devon Air Ambulance Trust. All Faculties have taken part in arranging a fundraiser, including cake sales, a hair and make-up show, 24 bike rides, staff sky dives and loads more.

It is a fantastic achievement for the students and staff of Exeter College as this is a record breaking year for fundraising.

*correct at the time of publication