Gateshead College named best in region and fourth in country for success

Gateshead College has been ranked the best performing college in the North East and fourth in England.

Figures from the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) show an overall achievement rate of 90.4%, 8% above the national average and 5.5% above the average rate of all other local college providers.

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

At Gateshead College, 12,000 students successfully completed their A Level, technical and vocational studies during the academic year 2015/16.

This is the third year running Gateshead College has been ranked in the top ten best colleges in England and sees an improvement on last year’s ranking of 6th place.

Judith Doyle, principal and CEO of Gateshead College, said: ““I’m incredibly proud of this achievement which is the result of a strong strategic vision, the commitment of talented staff and the dedication of our students.

“We have worked hard to establish ourselves as a resilient, sustainable and agile organisation. We invest wisely in our partnerships with employers, our resources and our people to be able to create a dynamic curriculum that adapts to the changing needs of our economy and gives our students the skills they need to be successful.

“These results show a sustained improvement on the performance results of last year, demonstrating our ambition to constantly progress.”

Gateshead College was ranked outstanding by Ofsted in 2015, one of only three colleges to be awarded the top quality mark in 2 years.

The funding for Gateshead College programmes is made available via the Skills Funding Agency (SFA) and the European Social Fund (ESF). The Skills Funding Agency are responsible for improving the skills of England’s young people and adults to ensure we have a workforce of world-class standard. The European Social Fund is transforming lives through better skills and better job prospects.