WEST LONDON COLLEGE AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS QUALITY MARKS FOR CONSTRUCTION, GREEN SKILLS AND HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE

The Mayor of London has announced West London College as one of the skills providers awarded the Mayor’s Academies Programme (MAP) Quality Mark for construction, green skills and health and social care. Deputy Mayor, Jules Pipe, visited Southall Community College today (29 June) to present the college with the news. 

West London College received three Quality Marks for their Green, Health & Social Care and Construction learning provision. 

To achieve the Quality Mark, training providers needed to demonstrate their training responds to employers’ needs, raise awareness of their particular sector, ensure that their courses are inclusive and sustainable, and also outline their commitment to helping Londoners into good work.  

At West London College, Jules Pipe met with some of the learners on one of the green skills courses. The Deputy Mayor also observed a wall insulation training session and found out more about the plans West London College has for their New Green Skills Academy Site.

Partners working with the College on the West London Green Skills Hub also attended: Anna Walterskotter, Women Into Construction, Ambrose Quashie, HS2, Stephen Coles CITB and Andrew Dakers, CEO West London Business.

Jules Pipe, Deputy Mayor for Planning, Regeneration and Skills at City Hall said: 

“I’d like to congratulate the 25 organisations that have been awarded the Mayor’s Skills Academies Quality Mark. This new accreditation recognises high-quality training that meets the needs of London’s employers and supports Londoners into good jobs. 

“It was great to visit the teams at West London College today who have just been accredited with three Quality Marks to see exactly how they are supporting Londoners to get the skills training they need to succeed. 

The MAP Quality Mark indicates to potential students that the college is a high-quality skills provider delivering industry-relevant training, with strong employer links in the sector. This gives reassurance that the training offered will increase a student’s chances of obtaining employment in their chosen sector. 

This award for green skills is the second the college has received from the Mayor, having previously received recognition for construction skills training in 2018. 

West London College is committed to helping improve employment opportunities, reskilling the workforce, and playing a role in helping to achieve the Mayor’s net zero target for carbon emissions by 2030. The college recently launched the West London Green Skills Hub, also part of the Mayor’s Academies Programme. The new Hub brings together training providers, local authorities, employers, trade groups, charities and others across Barnet, Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow.

The Hub, which is led by West London College, focuses on providing the training and skills needed by employers to create green jobs and to equip those in West London with the skills and experience needed to secure green jobs in areas such as retrofit – making domestic homes more energy efficient, the circular economy including waste & recycling, sustainability, green spaces and low carbon transport.

Karen Redhead OBE, Principal and CEO at West London College, said:
“We are delighted to receive the Mayor’s Academies Programme Quality Mark, recognising our commitment to providing high-quality, employment-focused training. The Quality Mark supports our mission to inspire learning and improve lives through education, training and skills development that supports social and economic success for our students, businesses, and communities across West London.”

David Warnes, Deputy Principal, added:
“Receiving the Quality Mark underpins our vision for the West London Green Skills Hub to equip those in West London, especially people hardest hit by the pandemic, with the skills and experience needed to secure jobs in the green economy.”

West London College has four campuses across the region in Hammersmith & Fulham, Ealing, Park Royal and Southall. Work is underway to refurbish part of the  Southall Community College to provide a brand new construction and green skills centre, due to open in early 2023 .

NOTES 

The Quality Mark is an annual accreditation awarded to London training providers who offer high-quality training in sectors covered by the Mayor’s Academies Programme and the construction sector.

The Quality Mark aims to assess and recognise training providers delivering high-quality provision in six sectors: Digital, Creative, Health and Social Care, Hospitality, Construction and Green.

The application process opened in March. To achieve the Quality Mark, training providers needed to achieve an overall pass mark of 24, with a minimum score of 14 required for the sector related questions to achieve the Quality Mark accreditation for their chosen sector. Scoring is skewed towards demonstrating ‘excellence’ in the sector specific questions.

A total of 69 applications were received from 35 training providers, with 52 applications (25 training providers) receiving a Quality Mark. 

West London College are being accredited with a Quality Mark for their green skills provision and are a Green Skills Hub under the Mayor’s Academies Programme.

In total, West London College have been accredited with three Quality Marks: Green, Health & Social Care and Construction.