College’s accounting provision shortlisted for national award for second year running

Abingdon & Witney College have been shortlisted for the Medium-sized Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) Provider of the Year Award.

This particular award recognises the quality provision of AAT qualifications to students from medium-sized providers across the UK. Nominations are open to training institutions from across the country, and the College are no strangers to being in the hat to win, having been in the same position at the 2017 Awards and only narrowly missing out to taking home the prize.

The vocational nature of our courses gives students vital practical experience and knowledge from teachers who have industry-experience, with the end goal to successfully train accountants and finance experts who progress into the workforce of local and national businesses. Students studying AAT qualifications with the College can progress on to study higher-level professional accounting qualification in the future.

The awards ceremony will take place during the AAT Annual Conference, which sees hundreds of visitors and accounting professionals networking over two days and attending workshops, presentations and keynote speeches. This year the conference is at the East Midlands Conference Centre on Thursday 24 May and Friday 25 May.

Angela Hayles, Head of Faculty for The Oxfordshire Business and Enterprise School at the college was responsible for putting forward the case for nomination:

“We are going into the AAT Training Provider Conference full of confidence that our offering is up there with the best,” she said. “It all stems from a strong focus on support, inclusivity, and ambition – we want students to develop their own self-confidence and resilience before progressing into the world of employment.”

She continued: “We offer comprehensive bookkeeping short courses as a stepping-stone to AAT courses for those who are less confident with accounting concepts. This has increased student numbers for AAT qualifications and positively impacted the fantastic achievement rates of AAT students, along with College-wide student satisfaction rates.”

The Training Provider Awards Ceremony will take place at the Gala dinner on Thursday 24 May.