Cardiff and Vale College has been recognised as one of the best colleges in the UK for its innovative approach to working with employers across the Capital Region and beyond.
The College has been commended in the Association of Colleges Beacon Awards in the City & Guilds Engagement with Employers category. Widely known as the ‘College Oscars’, the prestigious Beacon Awards recognise Further Education institutions that go above and beyond in their service to learners and the wider community.
One of the top five largest colleges in the UK, the Cardiff and Vale College Group is the lead provider of apprenticeships in Wales. Recent research by EMSI found that the CAVC Group supports one of the fast-growing cities in the UK and contributes half a billion pounds to the economy of Cardiff and £1.4bn to society each year.
CAVC is committed to becoming a regional ‘skills powerhouse’ meeting current and future skills needs through partnership working with employers of all sizes and proactively using market intelligence to inform provision.
Part of this work involves using innovative Strategic Employer Advisory Boards across key sectors to ensure CAVC’s courses reflect each sector’s skills needs. Overall the College works with more 2,000 employers across the region, from delivering apprenticeships to providing bespoke training programmes to address skills gaps and meet future needs.
One example of the way in which CAVC works closely with employers is the ground-breaking apprenticeship developed with Deloitte, a key employer in the financial services sector. Deloitte wanted to look to give people who might not have even considered a career in financial services a chance in this priority area and now around 10% of Deloitte’s 1,000-strong workforce in Cardiff have secured employment through the apprenticeship.
Other high-profile companies the College works in partnership with include Aston Martin, BBC Cymru Wales, British Airways, Celsa Steel, Dow, MotoNovo, GoCompare, ITV Wales, Persimmon Homes, Principality Building Society and Wales and West Utilities.
Cardiff and Vale College Principal Kay Martin said: “We are delighted to be commended for a Beacon Award for our engagement with employers.
“At CAVC we don’t want to be a qualifications factory that simply churns people out with the right pieces of paper but no idea of the world of work. We prefer to be a skills machine, producing skilled and employable young people with the initiative and entrepreneurial talent to add immediate value to any employer.
“This commendation by the Beacon Awards panel is a testament to all of the hard work put in by staff across the College, and by the thousands of employers large and small that we work with, towards making sure what we offer is relevant to the current and future needs of labour markets throughout the Capital Region and beyond.”