Young people across Wearside and beyond are set to benefit from a radical new approach to delivering high level skills following the induction of Sunderland College to the WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence.
Launched by WorldSkills UK, in partnership with education and skills charity NCFE, the Centre of Excellence will mainstream world-class standards in skills development.
Utilising NCFE’s expertise in curriculum development and drawing on its unique insights into global skills systems, WorldSkills UK will coach and mentor staff at Sunderland College to reinforce world class practises and techniques in its teaching, learning and assessment practices. By creating a cadre of world-class educators, all students at Sunderland College will continue to benefit from the highest quality training.
Judith Quinn, deputy principal for curriculum, said: “Sunderland College is proud to be part of the WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence.
“The opportunity to further advance excellence within the technical education for students and staff within our college and wider North East is even more important at this time and as we build up to deliver T-Levels from 2021.
“The programme will take our college values of being ambitious for our students and innovation in teaching and technical skills to another level.
“It provides opportunities for our staff to develop world-class expertise and raise the aspirations of our young people, developing them beyond their qualification. For those students competing within WorldSkills, it will transform their lives.”
In addition to its work with Further Education Colleges throughout the UK, the WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence will also play an important role in supporting the development of higher technical standards across qualifications and assessment development.
Parisa Shirazi, head of skills development and international competition at WorldSkills UK, said: “This is a milestone moment – a unique opportunity for Sunderland College to work with colleges across the UK and join the dawn of a skills revolution.
“Working with the staff at Sunderland College we will champion a skills-led recovery, which is driven by international benchmarking and rightly values high-quality apprenticeships and technical education to enable all young people to develop the employability skills that will provide them with a rewarding future.”
Sunderland College, as part of college group EPNE, receives an Outstanding rating across the board in its latest Ofsted inspection.
November 26, 2024
Students are celebrating outstanding results after receiving their A-Level, T Level and technical qualifications results.
August 14, 2025
Sunderland College hosted another Young Seafood Chef of the Year national competition, with students competing to earn a place in the final.
July 8, 2025
98% of our students progress to a positive destination
(*Destination data for Sunderland College students aged 16-18, academic year 2017/18).
Our achievement rates are well above the national average.
We are the College of the Year.
(*Top college nationally for BTECs, Pearson 2019)
100% of our HND and HNC students progressed to employment or further study.
(*Destination data, academic year 2016/17, HNC 19+)
We have recently invested £50 million in our facilities.
