About us

 

 

About Us

West Suffolk College is a rural further education college with its main campus located in Out Risbygate and Construction and Building Services at Anglian Lane, both within Bury St Edmunds.  In addition, we serve our rural community through Local Learning Centres in Haverhill, Ipswich, Mildenhall, Stowmarket and Sudbury.  The Haverhill, Mildenhall, Stowmarket and Sudbury centres are also designated LEAP centres (Learning and Enterprise Action Points).  We use over a hundred different venues around the county to deliver our programmes.

In 2008/09 our student enrolment was 19,453, of whom 81% were over 19 years old and 19% were 14-18 years old. We work with all of our local upper schools and have 753 School Link students who come to the College on one or two days a week.

In addition to full-time, part-time and Adult Education, we have a large contract for Apprenticeships and Train to Gain Provision. In support of these programmes we work with more than 1200 employers and in 2007/08 delivered a substantial volume of full cost courses to employers. We are a member of University Campus Suffolk and provide full and part-time degree courses for around 600 students. Our annual graduation is held in the Cathedral, and is a very important day for our students and the town alike.

A recent investigation into the socioeconomic impact of the College has identified £193.2 million benefit to the region. For more information on the socioeconomic impact of West Suffolk College, click here.

 

 

We are a large local employer with 1,100 staff and a turnover of £27 million.

We are very proud of the quality of provision that we are able to offer, both in terms of learning/training and individual support.  Student success rates are very high, and we are placed within the top 5% of colleges in the country.  The College has been graded ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted and awarded Beacon status for excellence and innovation. The College is accredited as an Investor in People and for its outstanding Leadership and Management.

West Suffolk College led the way in meeting the Training Quality Standard (TQS), a benchmark of training excellence for employers. In 2008, we were the first training provider in the country to achieve the TQS in seven areas of provision: Construction, Engineering, Hospitality, Leisure, Travel and Tourism, Management and Leadership, Health Care, Social Care and Children and Young People’s Workforce Development.

 

College Vision

To be recognised locally and nationally as an outstanding College.

Mission

The primary purpose of West Suffolk College is to provide excellent education and training, developing skills that contribute to the success of the individual and economy.

College Values Statement – RSVP & P

We, the College community, endeavour to

Respect	each individual at the College
Support	every student and every member of staff
Value	the contribution made by everyone to the life of the College
Praise	the work and achievement of each student and each member of staff, and
Pride	take pride in every aspect of our College

 

West Suffolk College is a member of the West Suffolk Local Strategic Partnership (WSLP) which is committed to making life better for people in West Suffolk. To find out how we are helping, please view the website at www.onesuffolk.co.uk/wslsp.