'Outstanding' East Kent Colleges Group Celebrates 10 Years of Growth
Outstanding Provider of Education
East Kent Colleges Group (EKC Group) is celebrating 10 years of growth following the publication of its latest impact report. The report showcases the Group's successes in growth, transformation and improvements while marking milestones across the past decade. From being recognised as an Outstanding provider of education by Ofsted in 2023, to scooping several prestigious awards, the Group stands as a beacon of education excellence and economic empowerment.
As the largest provider of further education and technical skills training in the region, EKC Group's reach and impact on learning have been characterised by growth. In 2014/15, the Group supported approximately 1,000 learners aged 16-19. It now educates and trains around 7,000 young people, more than 5,000 adult learners, and more than 1,300 apprentices each year, marking significant growth. But it's not just learners within the Group's Colleges in Ashford, Broadstairs, Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone, Sheppey, and its nine training centres across Kent and Medway that the Group supports. It is also the communities its provisions operate in. Over the past decade, the Group has made a £350 million contribution to East Kent's gross value added through £80 million of direct capital investment in East Kent. Similarly, from extensions at its Colleges in Ashford and Sheppey, to the opening of its Spring Lane campus in Canterbury, the Group has prospered within its sites, as well as through partnerships such as with The Marlowe Theatre, the Kent Refugee Action Network, and more.
It is these partnerships which showcase its commitment to growth and supporting the community by playing an active role within it. The Group has also championed inclusion over the past decade, and has even been recognised with a Beacon Award for its EKC Training provision EKC Group Ramsgate Road, Broadstairs, CT10 1PN in Eastchurch, which provides courses for prisoners under release on temporary license. By working with Kent Prisons and the Ministry of Justice to enable skills development and rehabilitation through this provision, the Group has played an active role in contributing to the decline in reoffending rates, which currently sit at 5.72% - a statistic which is below the national average. Positive social action also plays a huge role in the Group, and the past 10 years have seen almost 50,000 learners take part in community action projects, delivering 348,000 hours of social action, and 1,319 staff members contribute 10,522 hours to community projects. From planting dozens of trees and gardening in public areas to supporting children at local primary schools and those living in care homes, students and staff across EKC Group take on Community Week several times a year, which showcases the Group's continued commitment to positive social action. Speaking on the incredible growth which has taken place across the Group over the past 10 years,
Chief Executive of East Kent Colleges Group, Lucy McLeod, said: “Looking back over the past decade, I feel an immense sense of pride in everything we’ve achieved at EKC Group. “We’ve supported thousands of students in reaching their potential through outstanding education, and none of that would have been possible without the dedication and passion of our exceptional colleagues. “The transformative impact, both socially and economically, that we have been able to deliver through working in partnership with the communities we serve is tremendous, and I am truly proud to lead such a committed team. “I’m now excited about the opportunities the next ten years will bring for our East Kent community, as our Group continues to grow and innovate.”
