Abingdon & Witney College achieves high marks in latest national rankings for colleges

The Government’s latest National Achievement Rates Tables (NARTs), released this week, have placed Abingdon & Witney College within the top 10 in a range of categories.

Over 200 colleges and providers from across England are included in the 2018-19 report, which is commonly used as a sector-wide marker to track performance and student progression.

As an outstanding provider of apprenticeships and having recently been awarded Engineering and Manufacturing Apprenticeship Provider of the Year at the national 2020 Annual Apprenticeship Conference (AAC) Apprenticeship Awards, success in this department shows no sign of stopping.

The rankings show that timely achievement for apprentices aged 16-18 was especially high at 80.5%, ranking the College 4th among General Further Education (GFE) colleges.

Students will often arrive at college needing to re-sit English Language and Maths GCSEs after failing to get a grade 4 or C at school, and achievement rates in this department have continued to rise at the College. In 2017-18, the NARTs data ranked the College 5th in England – for 2018-19, students performed even better and the College is now ranked 3rd for high grade GCSE results, with more than a third of students achieving at least a grade 4 or better.

Jenny Craig, Vice Principal of Abingdon and Witney College, said: “In addition to achieving high quality vocational and professional qualifications, we know that supporting our students to develop strong English and Maths skills gives them the very best preparation for their next steps after college whether this is to university, apprenticeships or into employment.

These fantastic results reflect the hard work of our teachers, support staff and every single student and I am delighted that they have improved even further.”

The College success doesn’t stop there, with a series of achievement rates that place it in the top 10 in several important categories.

This includes overall 16-18-year-old overall achievement, one of the more prestigious categories that recognises success across all levels of post-16 full-time courses. A rating of 89.6% puts the College 10th overall.

At Level 3 specifically, which are A-level equivalent courses, the College ranked within the top 10 yet again and increased on an already high achievement rating; up to 93.2% from 93% the previous year.

Also of significant note is the performance of the College’s full-time Construction courses, based at its Witney campus. As an area of high demand for skilled employees, it is a department that the College is looking to invest further in the near future, making the 94.5% achievement rating and 8th ranking especially important.

Di Batchelor, Principal and CEO at Abingdon & Witney College, said: “Once again, we find ourselves amongst the very best performing providers for further education in the country.

During these unprecedented times of uncertainty, it’s reassuring and inspiring to see the hard work of our students, teachers and apprenticeship team rewarded with this recognition.

The NARTs are an important benchmark for showcasing high quality learning and where we are achieving amazing things – these excellent rates are testament to the focus we place on students when preparing them for and progressing them into fantastic careers and universities.

Congratulations to everybody across the College who played a part in this success!”