How Being a Centre of Online Excellence Has Helped Our Students Achieve Their Goals

Following the Government’s lockdown of all schools and colleges from mid-March, education faced a huge, unprecedented shift to online teaching and learning.

For many, this leap to digital education was an immense learning curve. However, thanks to our longstanding commitment to digital transformation, we at Exeter College were remarkably well-placed for the transition.

From the very beginning, we made it our priority that all our students and Apprentices continued to receive the outstanding education they joined us for. Our online learning portals became a key tool in providing students with expert online tuition through recorded lectures, live interactive seminars, and independent study sessions.

Our readiness for using digital learning to its full potential was aided through our long-term digital strategy. Due to this, our students and staff were able to quickly become fully-fledged digital citizens and were able to utilise online learning and unlock its full potential. Although the shift to digital learning came much quicker than anyone could have expected, our digital strategy meant that we already had the building blocks in place to ensure the process would be a success.

Microsoft Showcase College

We’re proud to be one of only a handful of further education providers in the country to be named as a ‘Microsoft Showcase College,’reflecting our commitment to providing outstanding online learning opportunities. During the lockdown, our Microsoft Showcase status helped to enable both our staff and students to confidently move to online learning, with great results.

Students studying subjects from Barbering to Maths, and everything in between, were able to receive tuition purely online. Sam Pestridge, A Level student studying Spanish, Politics and History has been very impressed with the transition to digital learning during the lockdown.

“Teachers have been calling us online, this is especially useful for a subject like Spanish where it’s important that we keep practising our speaking,” said Sam.

“Teachers have been doing PowerPoints and recording sessions for us. I feel I’m supported in my learning and the teachers are always available for us if we need them.”

As a College, we’ve received an exceptional amount of positive student feedback, proving the success of our digital strategy. We aim to continue using our digital prowess in future by helping other schools and colleges make the most of remote learning opportunities, throughout the current pandemic and beyond.

EdTech Demonstrator College

We were recently announced as an EdTech Demonstrator College by the Department for Education. This means that we will be using our digital expertise to help other education providers deliver exceptional teaching and learning online.

The EdTech Demonstrator Programme, which is backed by the Department for Education, The National Grid for Learning, The Education Foundation and Sheffield Hallam University, provides a platform for peer-to-peer support in education. We are very excited to now be tasked with providing tailored support to other schools and colleges to upskill their staff, technology and, ultimately, their online teaching.

Exeter College Assistant Principal Jenny Leach, who led our offer of help on the Programme, said, “We wanted to get involved in this scheme to help other schools and colleges in any way we can. We aim to deliver the best possible online learning experience for their students.

“The EdTech Programme is in response to some of the challenges schools have faced during the Coronavirus lockdown, but this will also be an opportunity to make a lasting impact on how education works for a lot of schools.

“The aim is obviously to help schools through the current uncertain period, but online learning can be used to enhance teaching, learning and assessment beyond this, and that’s one of the secondary aims of the programme. We want this to have a lasting impact on schools and help enhance the learning environment of their learners for many years to come.”

Exeter College – The College of the Future

Here at Exeter College, we have a reputation as an education innovator, continually developing in line with the needs of our learners and the local area. In addition to outstanding online learning resources ready for the future, we are also evolving our education offer, helping individuals and businesses to thrive for the economy of the future.

The construction of our new Digital and Data Centre is currently underway, which is due to be completed by early 2021. The new Centre forms part of a South West Institute of Technology plan to revolutionise digital, engineering and manufacturing technology education across the region. The bespoke digital facilities will provide skills training to create the digital and data professionals needed for the economy of tomorrow.

Next Steps

We are currently preparing for enrolment for a September 2020 start.

There is also still time to apply online to study with us. Once all completed documents have been sent in and reviewed, students will be given a conditional offer.

Exeter College bucks national trend for Apprenticeship starts

As Training Providers nationally report a potential loss of 80% of predicted starts during the Spring period as a result of the Covid-19 crisis (FE Week 22 May 2020), Exeter College is able to share positive news, having welcomed new intakes of Apprentices in Digital Marketing, Project Management, Customer Service, Management and Data Analytics.

Following a virtual meeting with government ministers this week, the College also reports exceptional retention rates as the local business community rallies to support Apprentices. Mike Blakeley, Director of Apprenticeships and Employer Engagement, said, “To see 95% of our planned Apprenticeship starts come to fruition despite all of the challenges of lockdown, shows clearly that our employer partners continue to see the value of Apprenticeship training. We know that our region is a huge supporter of Apprenticeship training, with Exeter having achieved City of Apprenticeships earlier this year, and it is a really positive sign that in face of global challenge Apprenticeships in the region remain high on the agenda.”

“Exeter College is delighted to welcome Data Analyst Apprentices from our new employer partner EDF. The fact that the Data Analyst programme has been able to start despite the challenges of lockdown shows the strength of our partnership and the positive approach adopted by both parties. This is our first truly national programme with learners in the South West, South East and North East all participating fully.”

Filomena La Porta, Data Skills Squad lead at EDF said, “People are at the heart of fully realising the value of data and data skills are precious and scarce. It’s amazing to see that in our company there is talent rising to the challenge of learning new skills and we are delighted to be able to support their development over two years in partnership with Exeter College. It is a great success story that the Data Analyst Apprenticeship has gone ahead as scheduled, despite the challenges of COVID. Exeter College have taken on the challenge of remote learning, ensuring a real partnership at every step of the way.”

The new cohort of Data Analyst Apprentices is led by Steve Mariadas, Digital and Data Lead at Exeter College and CEO of the new South West Institute of Technology, which is backing a new Digital and Data Centre which is being built on the Exeter College site. Reflecting on the challenge of launching new programmes during lockdown Steve said, “It has been an interesting time for us all, but the College’s investment in digital skills meant that staff were well placed to implement the remote learning required which enabled the Apprentices to begin their programmes as planned and with minimal disruption despite lockdown. Our concerns are always to offer high quality teaching and learning, through a safe online learning environment.”

As a Microsoft Showcase College, and having undergone a digital transformation, teaching staff have been able to quickly adapt to the challenges thrown up by the Covid-19 lockdown. Many of the staff already hold Microsoft Innovative Educator badges and the College’s IT and Digital Innovations teams have worked hard over recent years to embed Microsoft technologies into everyday practice across the College. It has also allowed the staff to host a series of virtual open events to support school leavers, and secure talent for the new academic year starting in September. Online interactive job seeking sessions have also allowed the Apprenticeship Team to match individuals who have come forward for the hundred-plus employer vacancies currently advertised with the College.

Having reached the finals of the prestigious AoC Beacon Awards on Thursday 4^th June, in The City and Guilds Employer Engagement category, the College cites its strong community network as one of the key factors in weathering the current storm. Mike Blakeley said, “The delivery of programmes at this time has been seen as a key tool in employee welfare and support. Levels of employer satisfaction are exceptionally high regarding learning delivery. Looking to the future we know that given the current economic climate there are challenges ahead, but we believe that the strong partnerships and reputation we have of partnering with employers will enable us to help them through this time, and in turn, find employment for our applying Apprentices.

“With the digital expertise the College has in place, and our ongoing investment in skills development and new premises, our Apprentices and our employer partners are exceptionally well placed to be at the centre of the Skills Revolution.”