Gateshead College named best in country by the Education Skills Funding Agency

Gateshead College has been ranked the best performing college in England for post 16 education and training, firmly putting the North East on the map.

Figures from the Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) show an overall achievement rate of 96%, more than 10% above the national rate for further education colleges.

The ESFA data shows college performance tables for achievement rates based on the number of students staying on at college and successfully achieving qualifications.

At Gateshead College there were 16,500 enrolments to further education courses including A Levels and vocational programmes in the academic year 2017/18.

This is the fifth year running Gateshead College has been ranked in the top six best colleges in England and last year was ranked in second place.

Judith Doyle, principal and CEO of Gateshead College, said: “The success of our students is the single most important thing to us all here at the college.

“We are an extremely inclusive college running programmes for people of all ages and incredibly diverse backgrounds, and we promise to give each and every one of them the skills and qualifications they need to get into work, progress in work and have a rewarding career; our ability to do that as best we can, is all that matters.

“My very committed and talented team understand this and we all work together putting everything we’ve got into making sure we deliver.

“We’ve worked hard to establish ourselves as a resilient and sustainable organisation, and invest wisely in our partnerships with employers, our resources and our people so we can keep raising standards. These results continue to show our sustained improvement demonstrating our ambition to constantly progress.

“To say that the North East is home to the best performing college in the country is a great message for everyone, for students, our employees, for businesses located here but also those looking for somewhere to invest; it is very positive news for the region.”

For further information, visit www.gateshead.ac.uk