Weston College has made it through as a finalist for two categories in the prestigious AoC Beacon Awards.

Association of Colleges’ Beacon Awards celebrate the best and most innovative practice among UK colleges each year and this announcement marks the second stage in the Awards process.

The categories Weston College are finalist in include:

• The Nous Group Award for Education for Sustainable Development
• The AoC Award for Excellence in Governance

Mark White OBE DL, Chair of AoC’s Charitable Trust said:

“The AoC Beacon Awards showcase exactly why colleges are so important to every community and why people value them.

“The AoC Award for Excellence in Governance recognises the critical role undertaken by boards, governors and governance professionals developing capacity for sustained improvement in the quality of provision for students.”

“The Nous Group Award for Education for Sustainable Development recognises colleges who are acting on climate change, being innovative and moving to Net Zero. The work of the finalists highlights how seriously colleges are taking Education for Sustainable Development and we’re delighted that so many colleges have already adopted the FE Climate Action Roadmap.”

The AoC Beacon Award Winners will be announced in Spring 2023. 

Engineering Degree Apprentice, Jack Kitsell, named as runner up in the Apprentice of the Year category, at the national Association of Colleges’ (AoC), Student of the Year Awards.

Each year, the AoC Student of the Year awards celebrate truly unique students from colleges across England who deserve recognition and will go on to inspire others.

These awards are an opportunity to highlight outstanding and exceptional individuals and showcase their achievements, talents and successes. These students have gone above and beyond to give back and positively impact their college and community.

Sir Paul Phillips, Principal and Chief Executive of the Weston College Group, said: “I am so proud of Jack, who has gone above and beyond in his studies and also his apprenticeship role. He produced consistently fantastic results and been very supportive to the apprentices in his cohort – well done Jack!”

Corrienne Peasgood, AoC President, added: “Each year the level of applications is extremely high, and it goes to show the fantastic work that students are doing in colleges as well as the lengths colleges go to support their students. Well done Jack on being running up should be extremely proud.”

Weston College Law learners celebrated their achievements at the Bristol Law Society Awards, which took place at the Bristol Marriott City Centre Hotel on the 3rd November.

The awards were a huge success, with over 200 attendees from across the legal sector in attendance.

From a Weston College point of view, several of our CILEx learners made the final shortlist, which was a fantastic achievement in such a competitive award show.

We also celebrated the amazing achievement of Charlotte, who recently completed her Level 6 Diploma in Law and Practice, and won Support Team Member of the Year.

Charlotte, said: "It’s great to have so many alternative routes into law nowadays - the profession is accessible to such a wide demographic of people. CILEx helps diversify the fabric of our law system and I’m proud to say that I’ve qualified through this route."

Dean of Faculty for Professional Studies, Access to HE and Animal Science, Helen George, said: “We are so proud of our Law students, and it was brilliant to see so many people who trained at Weston College, at the Bristol Law Society Awards.

“We were particularly proud of two learners: Gemma who was a finalist for the Law Student of the Year, and Charlotte, who won Support Team Member of the Year. They have both shown a determination to succeed and have blown us away with their attitude to learning. Well done to them both.”

You can find out more about our Law offer, by clicking here.