Following an assessment, the College was awarded the Matrix standard, which recognises the quality of information, advice and guidance. This re-accreditation – the College first achieved the standard in 2012 – lasts until 2021.

The College was awarded the standard by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills. It recognises the work done by the College’s ASPECT; Welfare Support, Additional Learning Support; Apprenticeship Sales and Recruitment; and College Information Services (CIS) teams.

During the visit assessor Bob Moffat spoke to students, staff and several external partners. The assessor commented that over the last few years, the College has developed a progressive, learner-focused and dynamic organisation where staff have risen to the challenges of change and continue to achieve high levels of success in what is a team-based and collaborative culture.

He recognised that the College has a clear and purposeful direction, which is achieved through a measureable strategic plan and associated service standards, underpinned by a meaningful mission statement.

It was highlighted that information, advice and guidance (IAG) provided by the College is consistently impartial, objective and people-centric. The assessor was also impressed with how the College has embraced the use of technology to continuously improve their service.

Marie Beaver, the College’s Strategic Lead School Partnerships and Student Progression, said: “We are delighted that the dedicated work of staff in these areas has been recognised. As a result of monitoring and evaluating learner outcomes, the College has continued to develop and enhance its service, including IAG”.

The new Matrix accreditation is the latest in the list of awards received by the College for the quality of its support to students.

TLT are a UK law firm with six offices across the UK. We have over 1,000 staff and over 100 partners, 60 of which are leaders in their fields.

We are a growing firm – so are always looking for good people across a range of levels and areas of expertise who can support us in delivering an exceptional service for our clients. Opportunities vary from working in our specialist legal teams through IT and projects to marketing and HR.

One area where we have found a particular skill shortage is experienced Legal Secretaries. We believe this is a culmination of secretaries not moving jobs coupled with the role diversifying into either a PA focused position or document management/admin role.

One way in which we have combatted this challenge is by working with Weston College. We chose Weston College due to their reputation, location and the range of courses they provide. They currently support us with level 2 and level 3 apprenticeships within our volume business teams. The opportunities that they currently support with vary from apprentice office assistants to apprentice case handlers.

Over the last 12 months we have successfully recruited around 11 apprentices through Weston College on a range of level 2 and 3 apprenticeships.

Weston College offer us a range of courses to suit our needs across both legal and non-legal teams. We currently have apprentices undertaking level 2 and level 3 courses in business administration and customer services and are looking to expand our apprenticeship offering to other courses in 2019.

Weston College are also close to our Bristol headquarters and on hand to support with the recruitment and delivery of the onsite training required for each apprenticeship.

Since working with Weston College, we have seen a reduction in the time it takes for someone to start their apprenticeship. This has helped to get them up and running sooner, boosting our ability to deliver work for our clients.

We've also offered permanent positions to a number of our apprentices upon finishing their programme, which allows us to bring on staff with the skills we requires and make a long-term investment in their career with us.

We are able to attract a wide range of talent into the business from a variety of backgrounds by taking on apprentices. We feel that apprentices positively impact our business by bringing a range of skills, a fresh outlook and enthusiasm.

Rebecca Mitchell, Recruitment Business Partner, TLT

Over the last year, Weston College students have been given the opportunity to work with some great businesses on live project briefs.

These ‘real-life’ assignments have included creating videos and working on websites.

Students have worked particularly closely with Visit Somerset, who produce a website promoting Somerset as a tourism destination. Here, John Turner, CEO of Visit Somerset, explains more about the students’ work and the partnership with the College.

The working relationship that Visit Somerset has with Weston College is possibly one of the most progressive and dynamic that we currently have within the county.

Both organisations are working closely to ensure that we are not only empowering businesses through combined social mobility and digital strategy, but – just as importantly – empowering and giving opportunity to the next generation. Students are gaining vital vocational skills, which will help them attain the confidence and employability skills they need for their future careers.

Weston College students are helping support three key facets of Visit Somerset strategy:

• Helping with disability awareness through our social inclusivity strategy, which involves ‘signing’ for film developments, supporting our conferences and updating members on the latest disability awareness opportunities and courses.

• Digital students have been creating new websites for our SME members, whilst also providing ongoing maintenance. This will allow the £500 million accommodation industry in Somerset to finally get the vital support it needs to compete against online travel agents. With the support of Weston College students, we are already making considerable improvements to help empower and train SMEs so they can create sustainable futures for themselves. And, at the same time, we’re giving students the opportunity to experience key client relationships and build their all-important interpersonal skills.

• Students have also enjoyed helping shape the new Visit Somerset official county website, creating video content to help market the important meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions industry and our accommodation sector. They’ve also created image-led, content-rich videography to help market the county’s overall beauty.

At 18 months old, this relationship is still only in its infancy. However, we have already achieved so much together. Both organisations and their teams and, most importantly, the students, should be deeply proud of their efforts and their incredible abilities. One thing I always remind students of is that the only barriers to your success are those that appear in your mind.

If you would like to offer a live project brief to our students, you can pledge here.