College praised by local councillors after award-laden year

Birkenhead Sixth Form College welcomed Wirral Councillors for a breakfast briefing to celebrate another outstanding year of academic success along with regional and national award wins.

The College currently holds three awards for social mobility that are considered the most prestigious in the area of widening participation, recognising our commitment to ensuring that all students are afforded the same opportunities, no matter their background.

The government’s annual State of the Nation report, published in April 2019, concluded: “Further Education institutions are a key tool for improving social mobility,” and increasing all students’ chances for a successful life and career beyond sixth form study is at the core of the College’s operations.

The awards come from the Sixth Form Colleges Association, Educate North Awards, and the Association of Colleges/TES Awards, which are considered the ‘Oscars’ of education accolades.

Councillors from across the Wirral area listened to Principal Mike Kilbride explain how the College’s ethos and values shapes young people’s futures, through proven scientific and psychological evidence, and how this in turn has meant that our results have placed in the top 10% nationally for five years running.

Cllr Brian Kenny, who represents the ward of Bidston and St. James, said: “This is a really positive news story. It’s fantastic to hear the way that the College has gone from success to success and I think it’s an inspiration to everyone in the Wirral.

“I think the way the College enables social mobility is vital. People can have a very negative image of Birkenhead particularly and it’s so important that places like this are dealing with that issue in a very positive way.”

With the College looking to expand its accommodation for more students due to oversubscription, Cllr Kenny said: “I think it’s a very worthy cause. I think it’s amazing really, the work that can be done now on such a small site, and it would be an absolute tragedy if they weren’t able to expand to accommodate all the work that they want to do in the future.”