We are offering adults a wide range of free courses that will help learners upskill or retrain in growing sectors in the region, such as  health, digital, and science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects.

According to a report by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, around two-thirds (65%) of employers have upskilling needs in the region, driven by new working practices, new technology / equipment and regulatory requirements. 

It has also been reported that 32% of people have no qualifications in Keighley compared with 26% across West Yorkshire. The college will be using its free course provision to address the skills shortages and boost opportunities in the district.

With new technologies, accompanied by demographic and environmental change, the demand for people to retrain or upskill has heightened. As such, skills that include critical thinking and problem solving – which complement the new technologies – will become increasingly important in the future.

Kevin O’Hare, Principal at Keighley College, said: “We are witnessing a transformation in technological advancements. While the growth of technology offers the possibility of developing new skills, it will also come with the displacement of different types of jobs.

“As educators, we play a key role in adapting to the changing landscape and help learners develop in-demand skills. Gaining a Level 3 qualification can boost income, help people stand out and gain skills that employers value.”

“At the heart of the college’s skills agenda is ensuring that young people and adults are getting the very best education. Through these free courses, we are giving adults, particularly those with no qualifications, the opportunity to gain  one in an area they are interested in or for them to retrain for another career.

For more information on the free courses available, visit Keighley College.

Keighley College will be hosting a ‘peace meal’ on Thursday 22 June, where staff and students can share their stories over a delicious meal provided by Bab Tooma, an authentic Syrian restaurant.

There will also be a performance of multilingual poetry by poet and writer, Nabeela Ahmed and students will have the opportunity to take part in their workshop. 

Visitors will also be able to hear about Keighley College’s work as a designated College of Sanctuary as well as view a video and quilt created by its ESOL students.

There will be an opportunity to make donations on the day to the Keighley Good Food Project; or you can donate here. 

Keighley College is proud to have been crowned the overall winner of this year’s Planet Earth Games Competition. The nationwide event showcased students’ incredible creativity and innovation and tasked them with coming up with environmental activities that truly make a difference.

As part of the challenge, colleges in Yorkshire organised activities based around vital sustainable themes – carbon reduction, connecting to nature, food, waste reduction, conservation, energy and travel, to name a few.

Our students’ amazing creations range from constructing an indoor greenhouse using recycled bottles and timber offcuts to crafting a suit of armour from waste metal.

Cristopher Nichols, Student Engagement Officer, said: ‘’I am so proud of our students, who did a brilliant job of fulfilling the competition’s brief. Their fantastic efforts made them worthy overall winners of this important national award.”

Fostering engagement within the wider community

The hard work displayed in organising these activities also fostered inclusivity and engagement within the community.

Students engaged in activities such as running a sustainable ”pay what you can” shop, stocked with donated clothes to help students during the cost of living crisis.

One of the students, Dylan Worsnop, helped by tutor Simon Davison, used leftover metal from his fabrication and welding course to produce a Spartan-style body armour and shield.

What began as a headpiece eventually evolved into a complete outfit.

Indoor greenhouse and armour created by students

A testament to our commitment to immediate environmental action

Principal Kevin O’Hare was delighted with the competition’s success.

He said: “Our students’ impressive efforts have shone a light on our college and our commitment to sustainable action, which includes becoming net zero by 2035. We’re looking forward to being presented with the Bamboo Trophy for this victory, and will be displaying it proudly on campus.”

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve secured funding through the Department for Education-led Multiply programme to enhance adult numeracy skills in our district.

With this financial support, we’ll be able to assist adults in our area who don’t have a Level 2 qualification – roughly equivalent to a GCSE grade 4, or the old C grade – in maths. The aim will be to help them overcome their fear of the subject so they can thrive, personally and professionally.

The work will involve supporting learners through putting on new, flexible courses designed to fit around their lives, and training more staff to teach numeracy.

The focus will be on functional, rather than theoretical, maths to show how useful it can be in real-life situations ranging from budgeting for shopping to understanding borrowing, credit and interest.

A 2022 report found that more than half – 52% – of adults in West Yorkshire were at ‘entry level and below’ in terms of numeracy.

Keighley College’s Principal, Kevin O’Hare, said: “Numeracy is so important for all of us as we try to negotiate the daily challenges of education, life and work.

“Skills like budgeting are essential, especially now while we are facing a cost of living crisis, but many people find it  difficult.

“We are therefore delighted, as a college dedicated to supporting the community, to have secured funding to help local adults, in all walks of life, feel more confident in such areas.“

The programme will also open up new work and educational possibilities for participants, and take them a step closer to being able to benefit from further support such as the Lifelong Loan Entitlement.

Keighley College is already piloting a project that asks English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students to take on tasks like banking or supermarket shopping.

Principal of Keighley College, Kevin O’Hare, was among leaders from Leeds City College, Leeds College of Building, Bradford, Kirklees, Shipley and Calderdale colleges, to join hundreds of others from across the country in calling for fairer funding, a right to lifelong learning and support for local skills shortages. 

Following 12 years of declining funding for adults and young people, a 2022 report from the Open University and British Chambers of Commerce found that more than 68 per cent of SMEs are currently facing skills shortages, rising to 86 per cent in large organisations. 

He said: “Education, particularly further education, has been central to the skills agenda for some time, and the sector has been tirelessly campaigning in order to get the necessary support from government to successfully close the skills gap. 

“All the industries where skills shortages are being felt most acutely are bridged by Level 4 or 5 skills and qualifications, which are delivered in further education colleges. We will continue campaigning collectively to keep FE front of mind and to remind government of the important role it plays.” 

As part of the campaign on 1 March, the principals were involved in a panel discussion, organised by the Future Skills Coalition, that focused on how the lack of funding for colleges is having a direct impact on the sector’s ability to deliver the skilled workers the economy needs. 

Nikki Davis, Leeds College of Building Principal & CEO, said: “Colleges are vital in addressing significant skills gaps across the economy, including the next generation of skilled construction professionals. Research shows that around a quarter of a million extra construction workers will be needed by 2026 to meet growing demands on the UK sector, and to counter an ageing workforce. 

“Without additional investment in further education, we will not be able to fill critical shortages in priority areas – such as net-zero carbon emissions and Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) – and deliver the diverse labour market the country needs.” 

According to the Learning & Work Institute (L&W), 9 million working-aged adults in England have low basic skills in literacy or numeracy, including 5 million who have low skills in both. 

Palvinder Singh, Principal and Chief Executive at Kirklees College, said: “Adult education is essential to local and regional skills needs and for the social mobility of thousands of learners. 

“Insufficient funding for our adult provision limits opportunities for adult learners to gain the vital skills to support the future workforce and economy. This provision is essential for economic growth and productivity.” 

For more information on the campaign, visit Mind the skills gap – Parliamentary activity | Association of Colleges (aoc.co.uk) 

Engineer Alex Johnson is starting the new year in a role she loves and with a management degree apprenticeship in her sights.

Alex is a quality engineer at Baildon-based Produmax where she has been working – through an apprenticeship with the college – for several years.

She has just gained a distinction in her Level 4 apprenticeship in Manufacturing Engineering with the firm, which specialises in high precision engineering for the aerospace sector.

Urged on by our teachers and Produmax’s team to keep pushing herself, Alex is now looking forward to starting a Level 6 Chartered Management degree apprenticeship through the University of Leeds.

She said: “I started on a Level 3 Manufacturing apprenticeship, having found the quality engineer role, and developed my interest in the inspection side of engineering, through Produmax’s work experience programme.

A terrific experience, with no limits to what can be achieved

“I’d encourage anyone to do an apprenticeship – it’s a fantastic way to start a career in any industry, whilst having the ability to continue studying. There are also no limitations to what you can achieve, it’s down to how much work you’re willing to put in.  

“My apprenticeship has been a terrific experience. I’ve been encouraged along the way by the team at Produmax and at Keighley College to work hard and aim high.

“I’m looking forward to continuing my workplace development whilst undertaking the degree apprenticeship.”

Produmax offers several apprenticeship engineering positions, usually starting at the end of August, each year.

Find out more about our apprenticeships at the college here. 

Our Principal has been putting a shift in on the factory floor at Acorn Stairlifts.

Kevin O’Hare visited the Steeton business to find out how a group of students from the college, who are on two-days-a-week supported internships with the firm, were getting on.

Kevin had been invited by the students themselves. He said: “I was asking them about their work at Acorn. They said it was great and that I should come along and ‘do some real work’ too!”

The college’s partnership with Acorn has been running for three years now, and four previous interns have gone on to secure jobs with the company. The current group of four students – Jason Baxter, James Littlewood, Jordan Lindley and Kenny Greenwood – work at Steeton on Thursdays and Fridays, supervised by Acorn staff and their own mentor, Fran Day.

A mutually beneficial partnership

Fran said: “All the supported interns have Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), which means they need a little more support initially, until they find their feet.

“I’m here to supervise them at first, then gradually pull back so they can work independently. They learn about productivity and work ethic, but really they just want to work.”

Ryan Baron, Production Manager at Acorn’s Steeton factory, said: “The supported interns are brilliant, they’re hard working and have fitted in really well. The work they do – assembling components for our stairlift rails – is work that our guys would actually be doing on the line.

“We move it off the line until they get the hang of it, but they still have to meet demand for the components and they don’t let us down. The work they’re doing helps them to gain skills and experience and helps us too, so the partnership with the college benefits us both.”

A brilliant opportunity to gain valuable life skills

Kevin, speaking during his visit, added: “It’s a brilliant opportunity for the students to understand what life’s like in a working environment, seeing the different processes and how the workplace is structured, from the reception, the canteen, right through to the factory floor.

“It’s a valuable experience, and we often forget how important that is. The work is important, but the context of the work is too. It’s what I call residual learning – it’s about social interaction, navigation, orientation, timekeeping.

“It’s not on any curriculum or part of any course programme, but these are valuable life skills we all need to acquire.”

Acorn Stairlifts, which has factories in Yorkshire and Scotland, is a world leader in the manufacture, installation and innovation of stairlifts.

Though its headquarters are in Steeton the company, which produces 70,000 staircases a year, has sales and service staff across the UK.

Keighley College has become the third college in West Yorkshire to achieve College of Sanctuary status, one of only 11 in the UK.

The status is awarded by City of Sanctuary to recognise good practice and provision in supporting refugees and people seeking asylum. The college was judged against various criteria, and was found to be successful in taking positive action to embed concepts of welcome, safety and inclusion through its curriculum. 

Jo Rusden, Deputy Head for Adult and Community at Keighley College said, “This recognition is testament to our staff and students who have created a warm and welcoming college that provides a safe environment in which everyone can learn, thrive and achieve.

“As a college, we’ve worked hard to create awareness amongst the entire college community about what it means to be seeking sanctuary, and to ensure that students new to the UK receive the support they need.

“We’re extremely proud to be recognised for our efforts, and having this accreditation cements our commitment to supporting all students regardless of background.”

As part of this year’s Refugee Week, Keighley College hosted a Refugee Film Festival, with the aim of enhancing the recognition and representation of refugees and asylum seekers across the region.

Earlier this year, the college also provided an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Summer School for students from a range of backgrounds, including a number of Ukrainian refugees hoping to boost their employment chances. The aim of the summer school was to help students gain the important skills they need to live and work in the UK.

Kate Hart, Project Coordinator at Bradford Schools and Colleges of Sanctuary, said, “The panel had the pleasure of visiting Keighley College and were particularly moved when speaking to students who spoke so enthusiastically of the support, opportunities and encouragement they had received from the college.
 
“It was clear that they felt a sense of belonging and purpose from being part of the college’s welcoming family culture.”

Launched in 2005, City of Sanctuary is a network contributing to building the movement for welcome and inclusion in the UK by promoting, recognising and celebrating ways in which people seeking sanctuary enrich society. 

Keighley residents have celebrated completing a project to get back into education or work.

We have been working with local community centres and other partners to ‘provide pathways’ into employment, as part of the Community Led Local Development (CLLD) programme.

Of the 214 adults who have taken part so far, 110 have progressed into education – on courses ranging from English and maths, to teaching assistant and English for Speakers of Other Languages. Another 14, meanwhile, have gained work. 

To celebrate those achievements, the college presented certificates to nearly 40 women who have taken part at the Bangladeshi Community Association on Wednesday 23 November.

‘I feel much more confident in my abilities’

Shazia Hussain, who is studying towards gaining a teaching assistant qualification, said: “I have previously tried three different college classes and not gone back after the first lesson.

“This time, however, I have not only felt motivated to complete the course and progress, but I am also helping other students with their assignments. I feel much more confident in my abilities thanks to the project.”

Melissa Ciplinski also credits the programme with bolstering  her self-belief. She said: “I have always struggled with anxiety and the teaching assistant course has helped me to gain confidence.

“I now attend the classes without feeling vulnerable and nervous, and am looking forward to progressing onto the next course.”

Working together to make a positive difference

Mashuk Miah, who manages the Bangladeshi Community Association, said: “The CLLD project has enabled women to come out of isolation and helped them mix with others whilst learning maths, English, sewing or exercise. I know that our partnership with Keighley College will continue, and that together we are making a positive difference to the lives of those in our community.”

Our Deputy Head for Adult and Community, Jo Rusden, added: “We were delighted to celebrate the achievements of these learners with the association, which has been one of our key partners.

“This programme has already helped hundreds of Keighley residents take a step towards getting back into education or work, and we look forward to welcoming more moving forward.

“These are tough times for everyone just now, but especially those in households with low or no income. This programme is all about giving people the help, and skills they need, to take a step on the path towards employment and a rewarding future.”