New Principal drives growth in campus and student numbers.
Over the past two years, Darlington College has continued its trajectory of growth and transformation under the leadership of Principal, David Gartland. Building on strong foundations, the college has seen staff numbers rise to nearly 500 and student enrolments increase dramatically, reaching approximately 7,000 learners. This sustained momentum reflects a clear strategic vision and an ongoing commitment to expanding opportunities for learners across the region.
The number of courses has risen, and the Darlington College campus has increased to include several other buildings within the town.
A working relationship with Teesside University has seen the arrival of the ATMOS building which caters for those students following Higher Education courses. One of the biggest developments is a newbuild, dedicated skills centre for 14-16- year olds on the main campus.
And in the centre of Darlington in what used to be the Northern Echo newspaper offices, there’ll be dedicated adult skills centre to support learners looking to develop new skills, retrain or enrol onto maths and English.
Bearing in mind that David is the CEO of Darlington College as well as being the Principal, he’s a busy chap.
“The pace of change within Darlington College reflects the ambitions we have for the college, our students, for the town and for the North East in general,” said David. “We offer a wide range of subjects at various levels that are designed to help students of all abilities achieve their career ambitions. Alongside our full-time courses, we work closely with a wide range of businesses to provide apprenticeship opportunities for anyone over the age of 16. Employers also inform our curriculum planning and come together to give their sector specific expertise on how they would wish to shape the future workforce. Our overriding aim is to provide all students… no matter what their age…with an exceptional education that allows them to progress in education or be ready for the workplace.”
The college’s skills centre for 14-16-year olds gives young people a career-focussed education. Some students of that age can find traditional school settings rather challenging, so there’s a focus on helping them learn skills that will suit them. They still work towards their GCSE’s in maths and English but this is contextualised into the career areas such as automotive engineering, construction, hospitality, hairdressing, healthcare and tourism.
“We work closely with businesses to ensure that the skills which these young people learn are relevant for the workplace and hopefully lead them to an apprenticeship or further study. Our tutors have a huge amount of industry experience, and our students benefit from this.
“We are having terrific success in finding employment for students who may have, initially, struggled with education. Several have recently joined an airline to become cabin crew. Another is the youngest train driver on the Wensleydale Railway. We give students ‘real world’ experience travelling to places such as Brazil, Tanzania, Cambodia, Finland and Thailand to discover how other countries approach various careers. For example, some of our hospitality students were keen on developing their Thai cooking skills, so we sent them to Bangkok. The spin-off for everyone was that they put those new-found skills to use in the college restaurant.
“The universal student success at the college is also largely attributed to the robust wraparound support services that we have in place,” explains David. “From mental health and wellbeing care to financial and learning support, we ensure our students are equipped to thrive.”
Darlington College is plainly an incredible place to study with students enjoying being part of a community, learning new skills, developing knowledge, and learning to work with others as well as independently.
Darlington College is a forward-looking place. Why not look forward with them?
If you’d like more information about what David Gartland and his team can offer you at Darlington College, the best idea is to go onto their excellent website… www.darlington. ac.uk where you’ll find full details of the courses on offer as well as how to get in touch.
