NCG are driving societal change by delivering opportunity
Former Education Secretary, Rt Hon Justine Greening, recently visited new Breaking Down Barriers Commission partners Newcastle College and Newcastle Sixth Form College, to see first-hand the impact that the further education institutions are having in delivering opportunity and driving societal change.
Newcastle College is a further and higher education college with 12,000 students which offers hundreds of vocational courses, degrees and apprenticeships to learners across the North East, whilst Newcastle Sixth Form College delivers A Levels to 1,200 students. They are both part of national college group NCG, which also encompasses Carlisle College, Kidderminster College, Lewisham College, Southwark College and West Lancashire College. NCG’s mission is to ‘enable social mobility and economic prosperity through exceptional education’ and aims to develop the skills students need for their next steps in education, training or employment.
NCG recently announced its membership of the Breaking Down Barriers Commission with a project to assess how it is currently breaking down the barriers to opportunity across a framework of 15 goals that extend from positive destinations post-16 + to digital inclusion, and from good health and wellbeing to achieving equality through diversity and inclusion. It will also explore how it might go even further in delivering social impact for its students and the communities it serves.
Thanking NCG for its hospitality, Rt Hon Justine Greening said:
“It was fantastic to see first hand the work that Newcastle College and Newcastle Sixth Form College are doing and the very real opportunities they create, nurturing a talent pipeline that will enable their students to reach their full potential. That’s good for them as individuals but it is also important for their communities which benefit socially and economically from the knowledge and skills they acquire. They are opportunity makers for their businesses and employers.
“It is also great that NCG’s CEO, Liz Bromley, has agreed to be the College Sector Lead for the North East as part of the Breaking Down Barriers Commission. Her expertise will help the sector to play a full and effective part in delivering opportunities in an area of the country that has traditionally seen fewer than other regions. I’m looking forward to working with her and her teams at Newcastle College and Newcastle Sixth Form College to highlight the crucial role that further education plays in our education system and in shaping a fairer, more prosperous future.”
