South & City College Birmingham Achieves Matrix Standard for Outstanding Careers Guidance

South & City College Birmingham (SCCB) is delighted to celebrate achieving the Matrix Standard, recognising the college’s commitment to empowering learners, building brighter futures and making careers guidance part of every learner’s journey.

A nationally recognised quality mark for careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) services, the Matrix Assessment was held between the 28th and 30th of September 2026 by the Department of Education (DFE) and recognised SCCB’s College wide dedication to helping learners explore their options and take next steps with confidence.

The positive feedback SCCB received, highlights SCCB’s awareness and commitment to inclusion, accessible support – specifically for learners with high needs, and finally, continuous improvement.
This Matrix Assessment was an opportunity for the college to recognise and celebrate multiple cross-college teams, including: the Careers Team, the Curriculum Team, Admissions, cross-college colleagues, management, the Lead Governor for Careers, learners and external partners.

Other strengths included strong leadership support for careers, creative approaches to recruitment challenges and a clear commitment to improving services. Together, these findings celebrate both the work happening every day and the ambition to keep making it better.

Donna Kelly, Executive Director: Student Engagement:

“A huge thank you to everyone who contributed to the assessment, whether by meeting with the assessors, providing evidence, supporting our learners or embedding careers within your own area of the College. Your contribution helped demonstrate the breadth of careers activity taking place across the organisation.”

Further special thanks are awarded to SCCB staff that managed the entirety of the Assessment Matrix period: Claire Sargent, Careers Manager, ensured the coordination during the assessment period ran smooth and that all evaluating criteria were met. Additional thanks are given to the careers team Phil Haynes, Abid Ismail and Martin Tallis; further additional thanks are given to Steven Dale, Assistant Director for his support to Claire throughout the process, and to Leanne Dixon, Deputy Director for her oversight and support.

SCCB would like to take this moment to thank all its staff for their hard work, commitment and contribution to this achievement.