Enrolments up for fifth year in a row

24th October 2008 11:39am - Return to press releases

Record numbers of 16 to 18-year-olds have enrolled at East Riding College this year ? the fifth increase in a row.
The 1,115 students enrolled in that age group is 65 ? or six per cent - more than last year and an increase of 271 ? nearly one third ? since the 2004/2005 academic year.

It is expected the figure will rise further because of late enrolments this month and young people who opt to start their course in January.

And the College is predicting another increase next September when the new ?17m campus in Bridlington opens.
This has all been achieved despite relative stability in the number of 16-year-olds in the East Riding.

Principal Derek Branton said: ?I?m delighted with this continuing upward trend.
?The College?s increasing popularity with young people results directly from our curriculum development and our growing reputation for the high standards achieved by our students.

?A lot of hard work has been put into these improvements by our staff, from the range of courses we offer to our high pass rates, together with much-improved learning facilities.?

The College is also proud of its work with local employers. This year, more than 3,300 adult students have been directly sponsored by their employers in areas such as apprenticeships, vocational and professional qualifications, essential training to meet legislative requirements and a variety of other training needs.
This is enabling adults who already have a job to advance in their careers as they become better qualified.

Mr Branton said: ?Our priority is providing high quality programmes which are meeting the demands of the national and regional economy.
?We work very closely with employers in the development of our courses and are very proud of the high progression rates of our students into work, and launching them into exciting careers.

?As well as continuing to improve our service, our next major challenges are to achieve relocate to a new ?23m campus in Beverley by 2011 and build on the very good inspection report we received from Ofsted last year.?