Peterborough College celebrates commitment to transforming lives through inspirational education

The Inspire Education Group, which runs Peterborough College, is celebrating a successful year which has seen its students achieve outstanding results with the institute winning awards and embarking on ambitious expansion plans.

Highlights of the successes for the Group, based in the city’s Park Crescent, are contained in its just-released annual report that will be seen by students, parents, staff as well as the city’s civic and business leaders.

Among the many highlights for the Group, which has 10,000 students and employs 1,300 staff, was being rated as ‘Good’ overall last March in its first Ofsted inspection since the merger of Peterborough and Stamford colleges in 2020.

Its further education results were the best and its student experience won the Teaching Excellence Framework silver award.

The group also developed a number of new courses as well as five T Level qualifications and contributed two Local Skills Improvement Plans after working with the Federation of Small Businesses and the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce.

Last year also saw the start of construction work on the £13.5 million Centre for Green Technology and a number of its commercial courses began to return after Covid-19.

Rachel Nicholls, chief executive of the Inspire Education Group, which also includes the University Centre Peterborough and Stamford College, said: “We are proud to see student success stories across our group.

“Colleges are anchor institutions in the communities they serve and we are proud to be a key contributor to the social and economic prosperity, growth, innovation and ambition of our region.”

Looking to the future, she said: “We have made significant investments in state-of-the-art immersive facilities and innovative technologies, creating a stimulating and digitally-enabled learning environment for our students. We have recently been awarded Google Reference College status.

“Despite ongoing economic challenges, we have maintained a strong financial position, ensuring the sustainability of our operations and our ability to invest in future growth.”

David Pennell, chair of corporation, said: “It continues to be an exciting time for the group as we further grow and innovate.

"We will continue to ensure we make a demonstrable contribution to the diverse communities and employers we serve.”