Colleges Never More Important to UK

11 November 2009

 

This week (November 9 to 15) is National Colleges Week and according to Martin Doel, Association of Colleges Chief Executive, colleges have never been more important to the UK and to building Britain's future. “In this tough financial climate, colleges are playing a vital role in providing people of all ages and businesses in the UK with the skills and opportunities they need to succeed. Colleges Week is about celebrating these opportunities and the contribution colleges make to our communities.”

Since 1939 Guildford College, which today includes Merrist Wood Campus and Farnham College, has been offering education and training to students of all ages from across Surrey and the south east. The curriculum has changed over the years to reflect social and economic change. In 2009 the College is operating against a background of recession and here we explore how it is rising to meet the challenge of delivering courses to meet demand more efficiently.

Surrey people hit by the recession are turning to their local college to help them gain the skills they need to find new career opportunities.

In September, Guildford College enrolled nearly 11,000 people, up by nearly 2,000 on the same time last year. The enrolments came from people of all ages, many focusing on job-related qualifications to give themselves the edge in the current competitive market.

The College has noticed a distinct trend for more adults to return to full-time study on courses that will help them change career direction or lead to a more fulfilling lifestyle. This is reflected in the increase in mature students studying garden design or countryside management at the Merrist Wood Campus and in those taking courses leading to more recession-proof occupations like counselling, teaching, nursing and accountancy.

Actress Julie Dawn Cole(see photo), who starred with Gene Wilder as Veruca Salt in the blockbuster film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, is an example. Julie acted over the years as well as being a fitness instructor on TV’s This Morning, but felt that she needed a new, more reliable career. She said: “I’ve travelled and done exciting things but the novelty is not what it was. I wanted to use my brains and be more in control.”

As a fitness trainer Julie’s interaction with clients uncovered her talent for counselling which prompted her to enrol for a Foundation Degree in Counselling at Guildford College. She has now graduated and is studying at the College for a final year to gain her BA Hons degree, while setting up in private practice and also counselling at a hospice.

“Graduating was the most wonderful feeling,” said Julie, 52. “It’s 30 years late but I finally got my degree. It has been tough but do-able and incredibly rewarding. I love being at the College and I really recommend going back into education. We work for longer now and shouldn’t neglect our brains. Find something you’re good at and give it a go.”

Another student who has changed career, after taking redundancy rather than relocating to Manchester, is Sally Pendergast (see photo), 30, who is studying countryside management at Merrist Wood. Sally has a maths degree and worked in technical support and running an online business for a charity until a year ago. After being made redundant, she travelled to Borneo where she worked on reforestation and orang-utan rescue projects and in permaculture in Nicaragua, which confirmed her resolve to make the countryside her career.

Many local people want to gain higher qualifications to win better job opportunities in a very competitive market and Guildford College has responded to this demand by offering more Access to Higher Education programmes. This one-year full time course for adults is an alternative to A Levels for university entrance.

Lynne Francis, 39, has started a Diploma of Higher Education in Mental Health Nursing at the University of Surrey after completing an Access to Nursing and Health Professions course at the College in June.  She worked for the Police taking 999 calls and wanted to help people in a more direct role but wasn’t sure how to proceed. “I failed my A levels at school, and thought I had maybe missed the boat to go on to further study, especially at university,” she said.

 “The Access course did wonders for my confidence, and helped me see that I more than had the capabilities I needed to study at university level. It is pretty daunting going back into full time education, but the fantastic support I received from the staff on the course made it far less traumatic. The course content is excellent and very relevant. Having now started at university and achieved my goal of becoming a student nurse, I can see just how well the course at Guildford prepared me for university life.”

This year has also seen more school leavers continuing in further education with enrolments on courses leading to careers in Public Services and Animal Management growing by nearly 20%. Young people are still choosing traditional subjects, but recent growth has been in the more job-related subjects.

Courses leading to careers in the construction industry are buoyant. Already this year over 700 people have enrolled for training in the plumbing, electrical and carpentry trades, the areas where there is the highest demand. The College’s Director of Technology Dave McDonald said, “The recession has not affected the demand for training for these trades. Young people feel the job market will have improved when they get their qualification and those already in the trade are updating their skills and getting re-accreditation to practice because of new legislation.”

Demand for Apprenticeships is high and the College currently has 350 apprentices studying and more waiting to be matched with employers. The most popular Apprenticeships so far this year are hairdressing, site carpentry and horse care.

The College is also helping people at risk of redundancy and those who are already unemployed to get back to work through special Government funded training. It offers short courses in subjects including catering, computing, construction and land-based occupations and is working with Jobcentre Plus to adapt these to provide the specific skills needed by employers. Working with a major employer and Surrey County Council the College has also put together a course which prepares people to enter childcare, a sector which employers find difficult to recruit for.

The College also retrains executives at risk of redundancy and one organisation already benefiting from this is SEEDA (South East England Development Agency) whose employees are currently receiving leadership and management training.

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