Last year's Cornwall College graduation ceremonies (click image to enlarge)
There is now more chance for people to study a university course in the region after Cornwall College was awarded an additional 232 places from the Government's recent allocation.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has allocated some 20,000 extra places to further education colleges across the country which are charging lower tuition fees than many universities, reflecting their desire to make higher education more widely accessible.
Dave Linnell, Principal of Cornwall College, said: “We fully support the Government’s mindset to make higher education more widely available which is why we are offering high quality degrees at £6,000 per year; considerably lower than many of the region’s educational establishments.”
The decision will allow Cornwall College, which includes Duchy College and Falmouth Marine School, to progress with its development of Higher National Diplomas (HNDs) and Certificates (HNCs). The vocational higher education courses in subjects such as Engineering and Horticulture are favoured by employers in more traditionalist industries, many of which are present in Cornwall.
Mr Linnell commented: “We are at an advanced stage of developing these courses in conjunction with local industry and as such we are anticipating significant demand once full details are announced in the coming weeks. At one time HNDs and HNCs were much more recognised amongst the public as routes into specific jobs. In recent years they have become less widely offered but they are still valued greatly by employers so we are working with Cornish industries to meet the need for advanced work-related courses.”
With the additional places Cornwall College can now offer almost 900 people the chance to begin a higher education qualification at one of its seven campuses this year. The College currently has almost 2000 students studying on full-time and part-time university courses.