New College Durham success highlights 'importance' of vocational courses

Students at New College Durham have been celebrating on results day for vocational courses, with a 91 per cent achievement and between 80 to 90 per cent achieving high grades, whilst its A-Level students secured a 100 per cent pass rate.

Vice Principal, Alison Maynard, told ITV News Tyne Tees "we are on to our fifth year of successes, so we have improved year on year, we have got phenomenal outstanding grades as well, so these learners who have been faced with a pandemic have done amazing this year.

The staff at the college said vocational courses give its students the skillset to take into the workplace, apprenticeships and university.

Nathan Sharp, 20, secured A stars for his Level 3 NCFE Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care.

He said he wanted to take the skills he has learnt on this course to Teesside University, where he hopes to do a degree in occupational health.

He said: "I struggled with the exams so it was better doing assignment, hand in, assignment, hand in, instead of exams all the time. The skills I’ve learnt here will go on with me throughout my uni career and my professional career as well. It will stay with me for the rest of my life."

His lecturer, Faye Guy, said that skillset is not only great for students like Nathan, but also for future employers.

She said: "They’re work ready practitioners. We’ve got links and pathways to employment, so they can use those transferrable skills and practical experience that they’ve gained and really they come ready for employment. It’s beneficial for the students, but it’s also beneficial for the employers as well."

The awarding body, NCFE, highlighted the importance of having vocational courses and explained why students often opt to follow that educational route.

Chief executive, David Gallagher, said: "That’s quite often why people are attracted to vocational routes as well, because it is much more obvious to see how that links to a job. With it being much more practically orientated, you can see the output of what it is that you’re doing."