HM The Queen Awards STEM Assured to CANDI
The New Engineering Foundation’s very first STEM Assured Award was conferred today on City and Islington College in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh.
The award recognises the exceptional quality of the college’s provision of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education. The City and Islington College is the first institution to meet the STEM Assured Standard.
The standard has been specifically developed to assure the quality of a coherent, multi-disciplinary approach to vocational STEM education and training in FE colleges. It is the only standard that focuses on STEM and drives the development of a college-wide integrated cross-curricular STEM strategy. It reflects industry needs particularly where more and more technologies are converging (e.g. Low Carbon Technologies). The STEM Assured process is robust and efficient and it involves a critical review of a provider's approach to ensure their vocational STEM offer meets the needs of employers and sectors.
The Royal Party today met with learners, staff and governors at CANDI. The New Engineering Foundation’s Chief Executive Professor Sa’ad Medhat talked to Her Royal Majesty and The Duke of Edinburgh about the benefits of the STEM education for learners.
HM The Queen toured the Animal Centre and the Environmental Science Laboratory. As from now CANDI is also home to the Centre of Excellence in Biotechnology opened in cooperation with the National Skills Academy Process Industries.
From City and Islington College
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City and Islington College receives NEF Assured standard for STEM subjects during visit by HM The Queen 30 March 2011
Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, today (30th March 2011) visited City and Islington College’s Centre for Applied Sciences. As part of the visit it was announced that the College has been granted NEF Assured status for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects by the New Engineering Foundation. The status, which was an industry specific standard for assuring deliverers of training, has been developed by the New Engineering Foundation (NEF). By working in collaboration with sector bodies such as the National Skills Academies, NEF has tailored the standard to meet the requirements of specific sectors or industry areas.
The outcome-focused standard helps organisations operating in those sectors to enhance their approach to training. It recognises the need for continuous improvement and for training to impact directly on business objectives. The flexible standard offers a fast-track approach to assuring organisations delivering training by adding a sector specific component to existing and widely used quality assurance standards and systems.
NEF Assured provides a highly valuable, independent validation of an organisation’s approach to training which is recognised by sector bodies such as National Skills Academies. The standard highlights performance in six categories: strategy and planning, engagement, design and delivery, innovation, standards, and impact.
Dr Steve Jones, Director of the Centre for Applied Sciences comments, “It is a real honour to receive such recognition of the work done by City and Islington College, as very few colleges can boast such an achievement. To receive the recognition personally from Professor Medhat on such an auspicious day makes it all the better.”
