The City of Liverpool College wins Beacon Award for vocational ESOL courses

The City of Liverpool College is delighted to announce it will receive an Association of Colleges (AoC) Beacon Awards prize for its transformational work with students who do not speak English as their first language.

It will receive The Bell Foundation Award for Excellence in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) in recognition of its dedicated courses for both existing students aged 16-to-18 and adults which are linked directly to the English language requirements in several vocational areas of study. These include health and social care, construction, motor vehicle maintenance and teaching assistant courses.

Praising the College and its ESOL courses in its decision, the AoC referred to how the College’s ‘English into vocational’ model shows how colleges can support both economic growth and social integration by linking English language learning directly to local job opportunities, allowing learners to build job skills and sector-specific English at the same time.

Courses are planned and taught together by ESOL specialists and vocational tutors, so language learning matches real workplace tasks and expectations. This helps the learners progress faster, reduces drop-out rates and helps them move into work more quickly. 

After receiving initial funding to test the model from the Liverpool City Region, the programme is now supported by strong regional partnerships and the College’s leadership, which funds it as part of its mainstream delivery. New courses are being added to meet the needs of local workforces and the College is sharing its approach with other further education institutions so that the model can extend its reach.

Commenting on the award, The City of Liverpool College’s Principal and CEO, Elaine Bowker, said: ““Winning this award is a reflection of the extraordinary dedication of our ESOL team and the ambition of every learner on these programmes. 

“At The City of Liverpool College, we believe education should remove barriers, not create them. By embedding English learning into real, vocational contexts, we’re giving people the skills and confidence to move forward into careers that matter to them and to our city region,” she continued.

Head of The City of Liverpool College’s ESOL school, Matthew Lunt, added: “We are so happy to receive this award as it recognises the work and creativity the team have put in to making these courses a success. 

“We truly believe these courses can lead the way on a national level in removing language barriers to students wishing to pursue vocational pathways. We see on a daily basis how our ESOL students possess a wealth of talent and expertise that we are helping to unlock with these courses, which will not only benefit the learners themselves but also the local community and regional economy,” he said.

David Hughes, Chief Executive, Association of Colleges, said: “Every year I am blown away by the standard of the Beacon Award entries. They are tribute to the scale of innovation and expertise in further education colleges across the UK, and the impact they have in their regions. This year, it was harder than ever to decide on just one winner per category.

“I want to say a huge congratulations to everyone who met the Beacon standard, and of course, to our winners. Thank you for your dedication and commitment to the communities you serve, and I hope you enjoy the celebrations, you should be proud of the work you do and the impact you make on people’s lives.”