A BASINGSTOKE college has been recognised for how it brings BTEC qualifications to life inside and outside of the classroom.

Basingstoke College of Technology (BCoT) has been offering vocational courses for more than 70 years. BTECs combine practical learning with subject and theory content giving students a more practical-based education experience where they can develop and apply the knowledge, skills, and behaviours that employers and universities are looking for.

BCoT has been awarded Bronze for BTEC College of the Year at the prestigious Pearson’s annual BTEC Awards which celebrates vocational learning.

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BCoT runs a variety of BTEC courses from animal management to engineering to health and social care. Students have access to state-of-the-art facilities as well as placement opportunities with leading businesses across the region.

In August, the college celebrated a 98.6 per cent pass rate across all full-time Level 3 (BTEC) courses.

BCoT is in the top 16 per cent of all further education colleges offering advanced technical skills training and is joint best in Hampshire.

Lorraine Heath, deputy principal - Curriculum, Performance and Innovation at BCoT said: “We believe education leads to better life chances and have developed our courses to be accessible to all students whether they thrive on classroom-based learning or prefer a more ‘active’ learning approach.

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“We are extremely proud of this award, which is a testament to the hard work of our teachers and students and the important collaborations we’ve made with businesses and industry that our work placements give our students the experience they need to be able to put what they are learning on campus into practice.”

BCoT will be holding the first Open Events of the new academic year on Saturday, October 8 from 10am to 12.30pm and Monday, October 10 from 4pm to 7.30pm for people to discover more about the wide range of full-time courses and apprenticeships. Register at bcot.ac.uk/news-and-events.