College awarded prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize for higher and further education

The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for higher and further education for 2014-2016 were announced on Thursday, 19^th November 2015 at a ceremony at St James’ Palace in London.

In this 11th round of the prestigious awards, 21 UK universities and colleges have been awarded Prizes recognizing a wide range of innovative work across many different disciplines. Abingdon and Witney College won the Prize for their unique training programme for the equine industry, combined with commercial breeding of thoroughbreds. The College is the only provider in the UK to have a well-established and working thoroughbred stud and offers equine training, linked to employment, from entry level to honours degrees.

Teresa Kelly, Principal of Abingdon and Witney College said: “We are absolutely delighted to be awarded a prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prize. It is such an honour to be recognised in this way and truly represents the hard work, dedication and innovation of all our staff, students and employer partners in the equine industry.”

The Queen’s Anniversary Prize is the second national award for excellence received by the College this week. Earlier this week it was announced that the College had won an Association of Colleges Beacon Award, an “FE Oscar”, for its outstanding and innovative work developing the skills that learners need to succeed in employment.

Jo Johnson, Minister for Universities and Science says: “The UK is a world leader in science and research and The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes celebrate the achievements of our universities and colleges. The outstanding academics recognised with these awards bring benefits to the everyday lives of millions of people in the UK and deserve this high honour for their work.”

Kieran Poynter, Chair of The Royal Anniversary Trust says: “The Prizes in this biennial round again illustrate the variety and quality of innovative work being done in our universities and colleges. They encourage our institutions to think about what they are doing in terms of practical benefit as well as intrinsic quality. The work being recognised combines a track record of outstanding achievement with the promise of future development.”

The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes are awarded every two years to universities and colleges who submit work judged to show excellence, innovation, impact and benefit for the institution itself and for people and society generally in the wider world.

The entry can be in any field or discipline and it is for the institution to decide whether or not it wishes to participate in any round. Work submitted is read by up to eight of the Trust’s 350 readers, drawn from a wide range of professions and disciplines. Each entry is reviewed and reported on anonymously and confidentially. The Awards Council of the Trust recommend the entries judged deserving of a Prize to The Queen, on the advice of the Prime Minister.

The 2014 – 2016 round is the eleventh round of The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes, the first round was announced in 1994 and to date Her Majesty The Queen has awarded a total of 211 Queen’s Anniversary Prizes to 111 different institutions, 71 universities and 40 colleges of further education. The Prizes were a direct outcome of the Trust’s initiative to mark the 40th Anniversary of Her Majesty’s Accession. The Prize Medals will be awarded at a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace in February.

(November 2015)