EXETER College is among the top 10 colleges in the country for its outstanding Learning Resources Services.

Its five Learning Centres, web, media and print services have been described as a role model for other colleges to follow by the Council for Learning Resources in Colleges, or CoLRiC.

Following a recent assessment, the independent watchdog has granted the department a Grade 1 Gold award – the highest rating possible – for its outstanding support for teaching and learning.

Exeter College is now the only college in the South West and one of just 10 further education establishments in the country to have this prestigious award.

The CoLRiC Assessment Team, which is made up of senior learning resources specialists from other colleges, said the wide range of Exeter College’s Learning Resources Services “best exemplified the converged service of the 21st century.” Inspectors praised the department headed by Richard Brine, Head of Information and Learning Services, describing it as a “transformational service led by a transformational manager who provided clear vision and strategic leadership”. It was “an integrated service held in the highest esteem”, they concluded in their report, meeting the needs of all types of students and staff.

CoLRiC also highlighted the service’s:

• “fluidity” and “strong network of communication links with its users”
• “co-operative working” with other college staff leading to “joint developments and synchronised thinking”
• user-friendly portal, providing a virtual space for students and staff to access online learning resources
• “innovative, robust and rigorous” quality assurance processes
• regular, drop-in sessions for students and staff to learn new skills
• exemplary training for Learning Resources Services staff
• professional management of learning resources

Richard Brine, Head of Information and Learning Services at Exeter College, said: “Exeter College is unusual in combining its five Learning Centres, ICT, Web, Media and Print services into a single department. This benefits learners and teachers who are supported by dedicated and professional staff who offer these services in a very joined-up way. Our CoLRiC assessors recognised the strength of our “converged” service judging it to be “excellent” and among the best on offer in UK colleges.”

Bobby Fortnam, Exeter College’s Learning Centres Manager, said: “We are delighted to have received this nationally recognised award from CoLRiC especially since we are one of only 10 colleges to have achieved a Grade 1 rating. “We have some superb facilities in the college but it is the Learning Resources Services staff, with their wealth of skills and commitment, who make the service outstanding.”