The Educate North Awards celebrate, recognise and share best practice amongst further and higher education institutions.

The College has been shortlisted in the employer engagement, innovation and social mobility awards categories.

Angela Foulkes, Chief Executive and Principal, The Sheffield College, said: “Being shortlisted for three Educate North Awards is an absolute honour and testament to the hard work and dedication of our brilliant staff across the College.”

She added: “Our staff are going above and beyond to ensure that our students get the very best experience whether that’s through our strong links with employers or the innovative use of technology, and I am extremely proud of them.”

The employer engagement award shortlisting is in recognition of the College’s trailblazing employer skills academies, which ensure that students develop the skills and industry-specific knowledge that employers need. The academies are the result of a series of strong partnerships that the College has forged with local employers and which have resulted in two national firsts.

The Sheffield Chamber of Commerce Business and Enterprise Academy provides real-life role models of successful businesspeople from a range of industries to benefit the student community. This is the first time a British Chamber of Commerce has worked with a further education college in this way.

The Uniheads Mental Health and Wellbeing Academy partnership provides all students with free access to online mental health and wellbeing training. The College is the first further education organisation to offer this.

The innovation award shortlisting is for a digital development programme implemented in July 2020 to boost staff’s confidence and skills.  The programme was led internally by college staff. The digital and e-learning team and learning development coaches delivered training and support sessions to develop staff’s digital skills.

The digital development programme has helped to ensure students have received the best possible education during the pandemic and aimed to keep them engaged in learning, remaining positive and on track with their studies.

The social mobility award shortlisting is for the College’s Shape Your Future programme, an inclusive tutorial, personal development and enrichment programme that comprises an extensive range of events and activities covering the themes of safety, health, active citizenship, progress and equality matters.

Open to all students across the College including full-time, part-time and adult learners and apprentices, the programme provides opportunities to develop personal development and resilience skills including their mental and physical health.

During the last year, the College has been recognised in a series of national awards, which include being a bronze award winner in the BTEC College of the Year 2021 category of Pearson’s annual BTEC Awards.

The College also won an Edufuturist Award 2021 as well as a NEON Award 2021 for widening access to higher education and it has been a finalist in two AoC Beacon Awards 2021/22. 

The Educate North Awards winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Midland Hotel in Manchester on April 7th.