The city council’s ‘exciting eco friendly’ proposals to transform Granton Waterfront will be on display at Edinburgh College Granton Campus from 20th February – 6th March.
You can also drop in to speak to staff at the College 4-7pm on Thursday 20 February.
Interested in college but don’t know where to start?
Edinburgh College are running free events at Granton Library on Tuesdays at 10am. The first session is on Tuesday 18th February.
Find out what courses are available and get help to apply.
For more info, email lynn.mccraw@edinburghcolle
Edinburgh College is encouraging prospective students to find out more about the range of courses available at the College in 2020 at two campus open days this week.
The College’s Milton Road Campus (above) will welcome guests tomorrow (Thursday 30 January) from 4pm until 7pm, while Granton Campus’ open day is taking place on Saturday 1 February between 10am and 2pm.
Those in attendance will have the opportunity to speak to teaching staff about the courses on offer at each campus and to discover the best study options available to them.
Prospective students can also get advice and guidance on funding and fees, tour the College’s facilities and even apply for their chosen course on the day.
Edinburgh College Principal Audrey Cumberford said: “We look forward to welcoming prospective students to the College and I encourage anyone thinking of studying with us to come along to the open days to find out more about the courses we offer.
“We have courses to suit everyone, from school leavers, to people wanting to improve their job prospects, boost their qualifications or learn new skills in 2020.”
To find out more about the courses on offer at Edinburgh College visit the college website: www.edinburghcollege.ac.uk/opendays.
Further open days will be held at Sighthill and Midlothian Campuses on Saturday 22 February and Saturday 29 February respectively.
Edinburgh College celebrated 50 years of its Sighthill Campus on Monday with a Civic Reception hosted by the Rt.Hon. Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh which saw former students and staff, as well as Deputy First Minister John Swinney, come together to share stories and memorabilia.
Sighthill Campus, which was previously home to Stevenson College prior to the merger which formed the current Edinburgh College, first opened on 6 January 1970 – welcoming students from various educational annexes from across the city.
Stevenson College was born from the Ramsay Technical Institute, which taught Motor Vehicle and Electrical Installations; Torphichen Street which housed the Department for General Education; and James Gillespie’s old school at Warrender Park, known as Dean College which taught Health Education.
The original departmental structure of the College consisted of five departments, namely; Building Services, Engineering, General Education, Health Education, and Commerce. The new Department of Commerce was established in order to focus on Business Machine Operators, Data Processing and Computer Operators to meet an ever-increasing demand in these, at the time, new industrial fields.
The College, which was named after famous Scottish civil engineer Robert Stevenson, continued to thrive and on 1 October 2012 was part of the merger of three colleges across the region to form Edinburgh College and has since been referred to as Edinburgh College, Sighthill Campus.
Today, Edinburgh College delivers more than 700 courses to more than 26,000 students across its four campuses – Granton, Midlothian, Milton Road and Sighthill.
Around 1,300 staff are involved in the delivery of life-changing education across four faculty areas – Creative Industries; Engineering and Built Environment; Health, Wellbeing and Social Sciences; and Tourism, Hospitality and Business.
At the anniversary event, former students and lecturers from pre-Stevenson Colleges, Stevenson College and Edinburgh College shared stories of their time both studying and teaching, while Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills John Swinney MSP delivered a keynote speech highlighting the everlasting importance of further education institutions in providing education and skilling the nation’s workforce.
In addition, a timeline mapping major college events over the past 50 years and various items of memorabilia were on display, while students from Sighthill Campus’ Music Box performed and Professional Cookery and Hospitality Schools College Partnership students served drinks and canapés to the 100-plus guests in attendance.
John Swinney, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, said: “For 50 years, Stevenson College campus – one of three institutions which now form Edinburgh College – has been a pioneer in offering life-changing opportunities to students in Edinburgh and the Lothians.
“In that time the campus has seen many great achievements and continues to do so, and like many of Scotland’s regional colleges it has remained at the very forefront of developing its own agile responses to what it offers as local economic needs have changed.
“I would like to congratulate the College on reaching this landmark milestone, and wish it and its staff and students the very best for the next half century.
“May your passion and determination continue to inspire our communities for many more years to come.”
Lord Provost Frank Ross said: “On behalf of the people of Edinburgh, I was delighted to congratulate the Sighthill Campus on its golden anniversary celebration.
“Since its beginnings in January 1970 as Stevenson College, the campus has provided an all-encompassing facility, bringing together a broad number of courses of study and inspiring countless students.
“Throughout its 50-year history, the campus and its teaching has continued to thrive and be a key part of the community. It has continued to evolve, to grow, and to support and reflect the changing landscape of our city, and I am enthused that this dynamic approach will continue going forward.”
Edinburgh College Principal Audrey Cumberford said: “It is an honour to be celebrating the 50th anniversary of this wonderful centre of education as Principal.
“Of course, there have been many changes over that fifty-year-period. Then the College was home to 3,000 students and now Edinburgh College is one of the UK’s largest further education institutions– teaching more than 26,000 students who come from a vast variety of backgrounds, including many students from countries across the world.
“We look forward to continuing using this space to continue the tradition of providing high-quality education and working with industry partners, ensuring we play our part in equipping the workforce of the future with the skills they need to achieve their goals.”
Edinburgh College has signed a new partnership agreement with The Battle of Prestonpans (1745) Heritage Trust aimed at enhancing students’ learning opportunities and further promoting Prestonpans Battlefield as a cultural heritage asset.
The three-year partnership, initiated as part of the 275th anniversary of the Battle of Prestonpans, will see the College’s Computing students taking on a project to create an engaging and interactive website for the The Battle of Prestonpans (1745) Heritage Trust.
The students will use their skills to develop a site which takes visitors through the story of the iconic battle (the first significant engagement of the Jacobite rising of 1745) and which provides a new digital presence for the battlefield and its heritage online.
Students will also advise the Trust on how it can use social media and mobile applications to improve the experience of visitors interested in exploring more about the famous battle. The College will engage local high school pupils in the project to transfer knowledge and further expand the reach of the work.
The project aims to develop further opportunities for students from across the College’s other curriculum areas by using the battle and project as a theme for work, including students from Broadcast Media courses filming and documenting the project throughout.
As part of the partnership, The Battle of Prestonpans (1745) Heritage Trust will provide a monetary donation to the College to help fund the project.
The agreement was signed by The Battle of Prestonpans (1745) Heritage Trust Co-Chair Gordon Prestoungrange and Edinburgh College Vice Principal Michael Jeffrey at the College’s Milton Road Campus.
Michael Jeffrey said: “This partnership will bring great opportunities for our students to work on a live project, enabling them to hone their skills and develop an increased presence and improved user experience for The Battle of Prestonpans (1745) Heritage Trust.
“We look forward to developing the partnership further over the next three years to utilise the talents of our students and help to continue to tell the story of such a pivotal event in Scotland’s history.”
Gordon Prestoungrange said: “The Battle of Prestonpans was about a young leader overcoming great obstacles to succeed. Therefore, we are delighted to work with Edinburgh College to encourage and support their students who shall become our future leaders.”
A group of Edinburgh College students recently wowed judges at the end of a week-long design challenge, tasking them to work alongside an Edinburgh-based design agency on a live brief for a real client.
The Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) tasked students with creating a campaign to promote their new National Progression Award (NPA) in Creative Thinking to teachers and the parents and carers of pupils in Scottish secondary schools.
The students were split into seven different teams and paired with one of the design agencies involved in the project: Neish Design, Emperor, Amaze Realize, Whitespace, Union Direct, Campfire and Lewis. Each team spent a week coming up with a campaign that would best answer the project brief, before pitching their ideas to a panel of judges from the SQA.
Team Union Direct, made up of HND Graphic Design students Rachel Platts Smith, Gonzalo Cervilla, Balazs Hirth, Zoe Willis, Valentina Torella, and Ross McGrail were announced as the winners of this year’s competition for their ‘Creativity is possibility’ campaign that featured a number of promotional activities including a ‘box of possibilities’ that could be sent to secondary schools across the country.
The winning team has been invited to a meeting with representatives from the SQA, where they will discuss in more detail how their ideas will be used to take the promotional campaign forward.
Team Union Direct spokesperson and Edinburgh College student Rachel Platts Smith said: “We are very proud to be named the winners of this year’s competition.
“The key to our success was definitely teamwork – we all worked together right from the very start and knew how we wanted our concept to look and were all driven to make that idea work.
“We would like to thank our mentors at Union Direct who were there every step of the way and made this experience all the more enjoyable – we couldn’t have done it without them.”
Graphic Design lecturer Helena Good said: “The competition this year was outstanding, each and every one of our students should be very proud of their achievements. It’s so pleasing to see the excellent standard of work produced by our students – they are a credit to the College.
“The one-week design project gives students the opportunity to work on a live brief alongside an Edinburgh-based design agency, before presenting to a real client – providing them with an insight into what it’s like to work in this industry in the real world.”
Fiona Robertson, SQA Chief Executive said: “Creativity is a hugely important skill and that’s why the NPA in Creative Thinking is such an exciting development. I am thankful to all the students from Edinburgh College who provided an incredible range of ideas for promoting the qualification.”
Martin Boyle, Head of creative, Hospitality, and Sport at SQA, added: “It was a joy to ‘be the client’ for the HND Visual Communication students’ project. It was thrilling to see the students tackle the brief with such commitment, and creativity.
“The whole project has been a fantastic example of engaging creative education in practice, bringing together the college, students and industry to create something special.
“Of course, this isn’t just a theoretical exercise. We hope to be in a position to be able offer our NPA in Creative Thinking to schools and colleges across the country, and utilise the work of team Union Direct in our activities.
“The standard of work the students presented was genuinely exceptional. I look forward to hearing more about their progress, and I’m confident that there are some real stars in the making on the course.”
Young students with additional support needs from Edinburgh College will be able to access specialist outdoor gym equipment to promote healthy living and stress relief thanks to Leonard Cheshire in Scotland’s Can Do Sport programme. Continue reading Programme rolls out health and wellbeing accessibility to Edinburgh College
Two awards for Edinburgh College at CDN Awards 2019
Edinburgh College scooped two honours at the sectors major awards ceremony last night – celebrating the talent of both its students and staff.
Dean Clark, a 32-year-old HND Retail Management student (above), was named Student of the Year at the College Development Network (CDN) College Awards for the positive impact he had on others while establishing the College’s first ever student-led shop, Bizarre Bazaar.
Dean, who is from Wester Hailes, project-managed a team of his fellow retail students as well as working alongside students and staff from the College’s Built Environment and Creative Industries faculties to create the new shop in a bid to gain first-hand experience of setting up and running a new small business.
In addition, Dean recruited volunteers from a programme aimed at supporting people seeking employment, a programme Dean previously went through himself. References have since been provided for the volunteers to help them in looking for future work.
The College’s second prize of the night was awarded to the Marketing team. The collected the Marketing and Communications category for their ‘Your Future Starts Now’ exam results campaign.
The team developed an integrated campaign aimed at increasing applications, application conversion and to improve customer service following Exam Results Day. The team’s activity led to a 258% increase in applications compared to the same three-day period the previous year.
In addition, recent BMus graduate Jack McKenzie was commended in the Student of the Year category after he saved the College’s orchestra from disbanding and led it to play shows across Scotland. The team behind the creation of Engineering’s HNC Mechanical Engineering (Enhance Distance Learning) was also commended in the Digital Learning category.
Student of the Year Dean Clark said: “I’m thrilled to have won this award. When we set out to create Bizarre-Bazaar, we really just wanted to get some real-life experience of retail, however, it grew to be an amazing project which brought different areas of the College together.
“To receive this recognition for this is brilliant and makes me feel very proud.”
Principal Audrey Cumberford said: “What a great achievement for the staff and students at Edinburgh College.
“Congratulations to Dean, our retail superstar who achieved so much during his time with at the College. His legacy is more than the retail space he worked hard to create, but also the impact he had on classmates and lecturers. Well done, Dean.
“Our Marketing team are also thoroughly deserving of their award. The team worked tirelessly on a terrific campaign to ensure school leavers and others receiving exam results could make the best possible decisions to help them pursue their chosen careers.
“Well done also to Jack McKenzie and our Engineering curriculum team who received commendations on the night.
“Everyone at Edinburgh College is very proud of you all, congratulations.”
Edinburgh College students have joined the city council to encourage those studying in colleges and universities to make sure they’re registered to vote in the forthcoming UK Parliamentary General Election.
With just three weeks until the country goes to the polls, Edinburgh College students have shared why they think it’s important for people of all ages and backgrounds to have their say.
According to the Electoral Commission, one in three young people risk missing out on their opportunity to vote – national research shows that only 66% of 18 to 19-year olds are registered correctly compared to 94% of over-65s.
Anyone wanting to vote in the General Election on 12 December must make sure they’re registered to vote by Tuesday, 26 November and can do so online by visiting www.gov.uk/registertovote.
People who think they may be registered but want to check should contact the Electoral Registration Office on 0131 344 2500. Those who can’t get to their local polling place on the day can also register for a postal or proxy vote.
Andrew Kerr, Returning Officer for Edinburgh, said: “With less than a week until voter registration closes it’s essential that anyone wishing to vote makes sure they are registered at the correct address so they can take part.
“We want everyone, whatever their age or background, to be able to participate in the democratic process. It’s great to see young people studying here in Edinburgh championing voter registration and I hope they inspire others to visit www.gov.uk/registertovote or to check with the Electoral Registration Officer to make sure their details are up to date.”
Edinburgh College Students’ Association president Carla Ford said: “It’s very important that as students we all register to vote. It’s our opportunity to have our say and vote for who we would like to run the country in the future. I would urge all eligible students, not just those at Edinburgh College, to make sure they get registered and play their part in shaping our country.”
Edinburgh College Principal Audrey Cumberford said: “I would encourage all of our students who are eligible to vote to make sure they are registered by next week’s deadline. It is vital that as members of the public we all play our part in the democratic process.”
Students who study away from home can register at both their term time and home address so they can choose which constituency they want to vote in, as long as they only vote once.
To vote in the UK Parliamentary Elections on 12 December, voters must be aged 18 or over and either a British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth citizen.
Voter registration closes at midnight on Tuesday 26 November.
Anyone already registered for the European Election on 23 May does not need to re-register. However, anyone who has changed address since then needs to re-register to be able to vote in the UK Parliamentary Elections on 12 December. Poll Cards are due to be issued to all registered electors from 22 November.
Applications for postal votes must be submitted by 5pm on Tuesday, 26 November and applications to vote by proxy must be submitted by 5pm on Wednesday 4 December.
Find out more about where, when and how to vote.
Edinburgh College students
Kevin Jenkins, 20 years old: “I think it’s incredibly important to vote in all elections because if you don’t then your say’s not heard. I think it’s also important that we encourage all of our friends and family to realise that they have to vote.”
Lauren Scott, 19 years old: “There are so many posts online that are encouraging it [registering to vote], you just need to follow the links and the instructions. It’s all simple questions so it’s not difficult to do, it’s straightforward and there’s no reason not to. If you don’t vote then you can’t complain about what’s happening – it’s the number one way to get your voice heard.”
Rachel Nicholson, 20 years old: “I think it’s really important to vote because there are so many changes being made or changes that need to be made right now. If we start to vote and make our voice heard then the topics that we think are important will get discussed more.”
A former Edinburgh College student has been presented with a prestigious award by Scotland’s Deputy First Minister after setting up the College’s first-ever student-led shop. Continue reading Prestigious honour for retail student Dean
