Four Further Education colleges among winners of prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prizes, 2018-2020

Four Further Education colleges have been announced, among 22 educational institutions, as winners of The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education in a reception held at St James’s Palace on 21 November 2019.

The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes reward outstanding work by UK colleges and universities which shows excellence and innovation and delivers real public and practical benefit. The Prizes are granted every two years by HM The Queen following a scrupulous six-month review period, and are the highest national Honour awarded to UK colleges and universities.

The winning colleges and their specialist subject fields are:

• Belfast Metropolitan College – Leading the curriculum for digital IT in Northern Ireland and creating a talent pipeline for the sector there and more widely in the UK.
• Dudley College of Technology – The largest provider of advanced vocational and technical education and apprenticeships in the West Midlands contributing to the economy of the region.
• London South East Colleges (LSEC) – A novel construction skills programme integrated with employers and providing much needed skilled employees for housing construction in SE London.
• Tyne Coast College – Novel digital modelling and advanced training for the planning of new port facilities and for the safe management of ship movements in UK and globally.

Sir Frank McLoughlin, the Education and Training Foundation’s Associate Director of Leadership, is a trustee of the awarding council, The Royal Anniversary Trust, while ETF Chief Executive, David Russell, sits on the FE advisory panel.

The Education and Training Foundation’s CEO, David Russell, said:

“As one of the FE advisory panel tasked with reviewing the strongest entries which have made it through the prior stages of assessment, I know first-hand the rigorous process and highly competitive field involved with winning a Queen’s Anniversary Prize.

“That is why it is fantastic news for the sector that four of the prestigious Prizes were awarded to Further Education colleges which are showing true innovation and demonstrating capabilities as education institutions, firmly establishing a future place on the world stage for them, their staff and their students.”

Prizes will be officially presented by a senior member of the Royal Family in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in February 2020.