Leeds College of Art has been awarded the highly influential and employer led quality mark for education and training, the Creative Skillset Tick for one of its FE Courses.
The College, based at Blenheim walk in the city has been recognised for the quality of the course and its relevance to employers for its UAL Extended Diploma Art and Design.
Tick status had previously only been awarded to undergraduate and post graduate courses across the Creative Industries, and has now been extended to a select group of Further Education (FE) courses across England for the first time.
Five courses from across the Creative Industries will receive the coveted status following a successful and rigorous assessment of each course by a panel of industry assessors.
The Creative Skillset Tick is a benchmark of quality and employer relevance. Courses that achieve Tick status have demonstrated to a team of industry professionals that their curriculum, teaching and assessment provide students with the very best preparation for a career in the Creative Industries.
Andy Grayston, Course Leader Extended Diploma Art and Design Leeds College of Art, said: “As a course team we found the FE Tick pilot application to be a rewarding experience which has generated a large volume of evidence that will be useful for both our self-assessment purposes and Ofsted.
“In addition, accreditation will offer our programme enviable links with the creative sector which will help inform curriculum delivery in the future”.
Accreditation will offer our programme enviable links with the creative sector which will help inform curriculum delivery in the future – Andy Grayston
Betty Jackson CBE, world renowned fashion designer and a Board member of Creative Skillset said: “Further and Higher Education is expensive and we want to provide students embarking on a career in the Creative Industries with a powerful tool to navigate the complex education environment, and enable employers to identify the best equipped students ready for employment and further study.”
Annual monitoring of graduates from Higher Education Ticked courses by Creative Skillset found that these graduates are three times more likely to find employment in a field related to their course. Introducing the Tick in to Further Education will serve to signpost the very best courses to the best talent and to the huge number of employers from across the Creative Industries that are keen to engage with young people from a wide range of backgrounds, thereby completing effective vocational pathways from school through to Higher Education and jobs.
All of the successful courses that have been awarded the Tick were very highly praised by the industry assessors for their exciting and motivating teaching and their local and national engagement with the Creative Industries, which provides an effective launch pad for their students into some of the best Higher Education courses related to their chosen vocational path or directly in to jobs.
The five courses achieving the Tick are:
· Birmingham Ormiston Academy, BTEC Extended Diploma Creative Media Production Broadcast
· Bridgwater College, OCR Cambridge Technical Level 3 Art & Design
· Bridgwater College, Creative Media Production Level 3 (BTEC Extended Diploma)
· Leeds College of Art, UAL Extended Diploma Art and Design
· Weston College, BTEC Extended Diploma Creative Media Production