Principal Paul Head (centre) with CONEL’s Beacon Status award, accompanied by (L-R) Ahmed Abdalla, Muni Omar, Chris McCutcheon, Keith Brown, Judi Bax. 

CONEL was awarded Learning and Skills Beacon Status today at a ceremony hosted by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) in central London.

This prestigious award officially recognises the very top performers in further education, and today’s presentation confirms our status as one of the leading Colleges in the UK.

Presented to CONEL Principal Paul Head by Sion Simon MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Further Education, the award comes after an Ofsted inspection report described the College as outstanding in many areas. Ofsted’s findings and the advice of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) were important in identifying CONEL as a candidate for Beacon Status.

The status is awarded to those who can demonstrate both excellence and innovation, and the selection process is extremely rigorous: CONEL is only the fifth General Further Education College in London to achieve the distinction. As a Beacon College, CONEL is seen as a source of expertise and good practice, which it will now be supported to share with other education providers.

Sion Simon MP said of the award: “This is an outstanding achievement. In today’s economic climate, the more we can all do to promote and celebrate the excellence that exists in further education and skills, the better.”

CONEL has also been congratulated on its achievement by the MP for Tottenham, the Right Honourable David Lammy, Minister for Higher Education and Intellectual Property and the former Minister for Skills, who said: “Today’s Beacon status award to CONEL is much deserved and should be an inspiration to those individuals who study at, and employers who work with, the College, confirming that the very best in learning and skills is available to the community in Tottenham and North London’.

Strong and effective leadership and management are among the essential criteria for awarding Beacon Status. CONEL’s Principal Paul Head was keen to stress that the College’s performance was very much a team effort: “This is a significant public recognition of the outstanding performance of the College and the contribution of its governors, staff and learners”.

David Hughes, Learning and Skills Council Regional Director for London said of the award “Your excellent inspection result and high performance in meeting the needs of learners and employers have been recognised and celebrated in the rigorous selection process”.

Paul was accompanied at the presentation ceremony by the Chair and Vice-chair of CONEL’s governors Keith Brown and Judy Bax, Vice Principals Jane O’Neill and Chris McCutcheon, and most importantly CONEL’s 14,000 learners were represented at the ceremony by Muni Omar and Ahmed Abdalla. Ahmed, who is studying Accounting, said: “This is great news for CONEL learners. Employers and universities will now know that we’re one of only five Beacon Colleges in London. It’s like being the Oxford and Cambridge of Colleges. I think that will give CONEL learners even more confidence as they’re applying for jobs or for places at University.”