Education

Northampton College has reported its best-ever GCSE results, with a record number of students passing maths and English this year. More than 600 students achieved grade 4 or above across the two subjects, marking a significant milestone for the college. Principal Jason Lancaster praised the achievement, describing it as a reflection of a “culture of excellence” across the college. He said: “These results will enable students to progress onto Level 3 programmes, such as BTECs, T Levels and apprenticeships, while others now have the qualifications they need to thrive in the workplace.” The college’s inclusive, trauma-informed approach has supported learners from a wide range of backgrounds, including 16–18-year-olds, adults returning to education, and students with special educational needs. Performance in GCSE maths was particularly strong: 86% of students sitting the higher paper achieved grade 4 or above, a 15% increase compared to last year. Lancaster added: “Students and staff have..

A host of inspirational students from Northampton College have been recognised for their remarkable achievements at a celebratory awards ceremony held on Thursday, 3 July at the Booth Lane campus. The annual event shone a spotlight on learners who have demonstrated exceptional progress both academically and personally over the past 12 months. Among the evening’s standout moments was the presentation of the Overcoming Challenges Award to blind music student Logan Jewell, whose unwavering positivity and musical talent have seen him take to the stage at The Roadmender — fulfilling a long-held dream. Megan Roberts was named recipient of the Change Maker Award, acknowledging her passion for sustainability. Megan led a team to success in an inter-college competition exploring the impact of overconsumption in Northamptonshire. She also launched a pop-up clothing exchange on campus, with plans to roll it out to the wider community. Rising culinary star Bella McCue was awarded..

Construction students at Northampton College have created picnic benches to give visitors to the Market Square somewhere new to sit this summer. The benches will come in handy ahead of a packed events programme, with the recently refurbished Market Square set to host multiple events in the coming months, including the Northampton Music Festival, the Amazing Northampton Run and the official Fan Zone for the Women’s Rugby World Cup. The College’s award-winning construction team was approached by Mark Mullen, operations manager at the Northampton Town Centre Business Improvement District (BID), to create the benches. He said: “Our strong ongoing relationship with the college team meant we knew we could trust them to deliver and, once again, they have done exactly that. “The benches will give people coming along to the events lined up in our town centre this summer somewhere else to sit and enjoy the entertainment lined up.” The..

A former Northampton College student who was recently awarded a BAFTA for her team’s work on the BBC’s Glastonbury coverage has urged current students to ‘give it a go’ as they look to fulfil their career ambitions. Alison Howe, executive producer at BBC Studios, said her stellar career in music broadcasting is the direct result of words of wisdom from a teacher who encouraged her to believe in herself and aim for the top. It was while studying a secretarial course at the College in 1988 that Alison first met the tutor and applied for a job at the BBC after seeing it advertised in a national newspaper. Moving on to the Radio 1 team was Alison’s first taste of life in her dream job and she has since gone on to give pop icons such as Adele their big break while overseeing live TV coverage of Glastonbury, Reading and..

The ‘Places, People and Professions’ that give Northampton such a strong and unique identity are being celebrated in a new exhibition on display in town. The moving collection of artwork, photography and audio interviews has been created by talented students from Northampton College and is now on show at Northampton Museum and Art Gallery. The exhibition features photos and artwork of around 20 notable Northampton landmarks combined with a soundscape of people’s memories of the buildings and the industries associated with them. Students of Fine Art, Photography, Music Technology, Business, Dance and Carpentry apprentices have worked on the exhibition during the past 18 months and were there to celebrate its official launch on Thursday, 24 April. Principal of Northampton College, Jason Lancaster, said: “Northampton is a very proud town with an incredible heritage. Wherever you walk you can feel the history around the place and this exhibition brings much of..

Without an official Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) green card, workers are not allowed onto a ‘live’ building site. For years this has caused problems for students who are eager to hit the ground running but are unable to gain access to the workplace due to red tape and the wait for further accreditation. Thanks to a new partnership between the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), Learning and Skills Academy CIC, Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce, West Northamptonshire Council, North Northamptonshire Council, Northampton College, Moulton College and three local Job Centre Plus offices, 54 Northampton College students have qualified for fully funded CSCS cards – giving them the ability to experience the real-world workplace. A further 135 learners are currently going through the training process. A celebration ceremony held at Northampton College’s Booth Lane campus saw all the stakeholders come together to meet the successful students and hear more about their..

Photography students at Northampton College have been given a sneak peek of their future career by being drafted in to help with the launch of a new motorcycle racing team. EB1 Racing is supporting the fledgling career of Alex Mann – a Northampton motorcyclist who will be taking part in the 2025 Pirelli National Sportbike Championships – a sub-group of the British Superbikes Championships. To mark the team’s official launch ahead of the new season, EB1 Racing’s head of media Tierney O’Grady – a former Northampton College student herself – approached the photography department at Booth Lane to see if current students would be interested in collaborating on a glossy photoshoot to showcase the branding and sponsorship opportunities available. The students embraced the challenge and staged a full studio shoot, producing content for the team’s website and promotional materials. Tierney said: “At EB1 Racing, we like to think of ourselves..

Green-fingered groups and schools in the Northampton area are invited to take part in a community gardening scheme this year, with small grants available to support sustainable planning projects. The 'It's Your Neighbourhood' scheme is operated by the Royal Horticultural Society as part of the East Midlands in Bloom competition, and encourages communities to brighten up existing communal gardens, school planting projects and neglected public spaces. Northampton Town Council supports the scheme locally and hosts an awards ceremony at the end of the season. Groups can apply to the town council for a grant of £200 to help with start-up costs, including buying plants and gardening materials such as tools, pots and peat-free compost. Any project funded should be sustainable, for example, by using perennial, pollinator friendly plants which will grow back each year and the grant application must be supported by the town councillor who represents the ward in..

A Northamptonshire primary school has described the “awe and wonder” pupils experienced by taking part in the Cynthia Spencer Hospice Tree of Love project. Every year, the hospice hosts a moving Tree of Love ceremony at Northampton Cathedral, where a Christmas tree is adorned with lights, each dedicated to the memory of someone special who is no longer with us. This year, Weston Favell CE Primary School joined the annual remembrance event by having their own tree in school together with blank hearts, where children wrote memories of loved ones lost or designed drawings to display for a small donation. These tributes aren't limited to those cared for at the hospice—they can commemorate any cherished individual, symbolising remembrance and love. This was the first year that schools in the county were invited to join in with the project by displaying their own trees. Weston Favell CE Primary School choir also..

Aspiring engineers at Northampton College are in pole position to get careers off to a winning start having taken top spot in the regional heats of a competition to find the next stars of Formula One. The Echo-NC team were crowned the overall winners of the regional heats of the global competition and will now take part in the UK finals to be held in Rotherham in March. F1 in Schools is a worldwide multi-disciplinary challenge in which teams use CAD/CAM software to design, analyse, manufacture, test and then race miniature compressed air-powered cars. The Northampton College team secured sponsorship and support from local employers including FESTO, Evertait and Goblin Games at The University of Northampton. Engineering teacher Andrew Garbutt said: “The students have done a fantastic job and were delighted to have won three categories at the regional finals ‘Best in Class’, ‘Best Engineered Car’ and ‘Best Verbal Presentation’ which..

A group of colleges in the South East Midlands has come together in a successful campaign aimed at further developing their work on meeting local skills needs. More than £5,000,000 was awarded to the group, known as the Colleges of the South-East Midlands (CoSEM), via the Department for Education’s Local Skills Improvement Fund (LSIF) with significant support from Milton Keynes and Northamptonshire Chambers of Commerce. Between them, Barnfield College, The Bedford College Group, Milton Keynes College Group, Moulton College and Northampton College educate and train almost 60,000 people every year, and work with approaching 9,000 different businesses at any one time. The funding was split over four projects around green skills, improving communication with employers, digital skills, and healthcare. The green skills project was led by The Bedford College Group, and has a strong focus on developing the skills needed as the country moves towards net zero, with many more..

The “passionate” and “inspirational” deputy principal of Northampton College has been honoured for dedicating his entire professional career to further education. Patrick Leavey was named the winner of the Lifetime Achievement category at the Northamptonshire Education Awards in recognition of his vision, passion and tireless efforts that have set a shining example for educational leadership, prioritising students, and raising the bar of teaching excellence. His relentless dedication to improving and maintaining excellent teaching and learning standards has created an exceptional student experience and enhanced the College's reputation for quality and success. Judges praised Patrick’s ‘open-door’ policy and were impressed with his approachable nature that has cultivated a supportive and inclusive environment. They said the award was given to celebrate Patrick “dedicating his life to education demonstrating innovation, advocacy and career achievements that have improved the education sector”. Patrick added: “I’m very grateful and extremely honoured to be the recipient of..

Moulton College students have been praised for their talents after creating striking floral displays for a prestigious event. The Association of Colleges (AoC) Annual Conference and Exhibition, which took place last month at the ICC in Birmingham, was attended by education leaders from all over the country. Students from Moulton College were awarded the opportunity to craft the table centrepieces, which saw the hard-working team design and create 65 individual displays for the event. Floristry Course Manager, Laura Kett, explains: “The brief from the AoC was ‘bright, eye-catching and impactful’ using a blue, yellow and orange colour scheme. Five of our students worked on some ideas, sketches, and mood boards before settling on the final design. We used a mix of Strelitzia, Gerbera, dyed Craspedia, Fatsia, and Icelandic Moss for the displays and were thrilled with the results.” The flowers received compliments from both the conference organisers and attendees alike...

One of Northampton’s best-loved landmarks is being given a new lease of life by staff and students from Northampton College, ensuring its inhabitants have a comfortable home for years to come. The aviary in Abington Park is a popular destination with families across the town for generations but running repairs are needed to ensure the continued safety of the birds. West Northamptonshire Council has now enlisted the College’s construction team to give Bird Cage Walk a much-needed makeover. Bricklaying apprentices are working alongside and full-time Level 2 bricklaying students to rebuild two old aviaries out of block work as the birds were eating their way through the old wooden ones. The new aviaries will be completed in the coming weeks, with Level 3 carpentry students installing a roof on them. Mark Bradshaw, curriculum manager for construction, said: “It is a huge pleasure for me to be a part of this..

Northampton College has been praised for its “culture of excellence” where students feel valued and able to succeed, with Ofsted officially rating the college as ‘good’. The college, ranked the fifth best-performing in the country in the most recent National Achievement Rate Tables, was the subject of a four-day inspection in October. Inspectors praised leaders and managers for creating a “welcoming, calm and supportive environment” while working with stakeholders “very successfully” to understand the skills needs of the local, regional and national economy. The positive inspection recognised the College’s continued drive to equip students with the high-quality skills they need to progress rapidly in their learning and future careers. Principal Jason Lancaster said: “We are delighted to see that the Ofsted inspection has recognised the incredible work put in by all our staff to ensure our students make exceptional progress. “We are fortunate to work in a college with a..