News & Events

  • Channel 4 News visit Bilborough College for national vaccination story

    Hattie Turnernews

    After featuring in an August 2020 item on results day*, Channel 4 news were back at Bilborough College this week to talk to our confident and reflective students about the merits of vaccinations for 16-19 year olds, and a new government campaign to encourage take-up.

    Current Y13 student Dapo Edun, made some great points about how lucky we are in the country to be being offered a vaccine that other countries in the world are struggling to access.  Meanwhile, Gabrielle Aikulolw explained clearly why some students do have reservations and how reliable and trustworthy information is needed for young people to have the confidence to take up this offer.

     

    You can watch the piece by following the link below – https://www.channel4.com/news/covid-all-16-and-17-year-olds-in-england-invited-for-jab

     

    It was great to see the college looking so vibrant in the sunshine as we enrol our next cohort of new Y12 students, and we are delighted that Channel 4 chose Bilborough College for this piece.  It is a great learning opportunity for our students to put themselves in front of the camera and they did themselves and the college proud.  We know that Channel 4 love meeting our students because they always have something interesting to say and are able to say it so well.

     

    *If you would like to watch last year’s national news story, you can find the link here.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V997iqvtWno



  • Congratulations to the Class of 2021!

    Hattie TurnerUncategorized

    Students at Bilborough College are celebrating outstanding results, rewarding the huge effort they have made since the start of the pandemic. Students have had to adjust to learning by live-remote lessons during lockdowns to complete their courses while still demonstrating high levels of learning and understanding. As well as having to cope with the pressures and stresses of a pandemic, there have also been bubbles, self-isolation and Covid-testing to contend with, and the disappointment of cancelled exams – all of which have contributed to two challenging years of education.

    All schools and colleges have used the Teacher Assessed Grades (TAGs) methodology this year to reward students for their holistic performance over a range of pieces of work. Bilborough College students achieved the highest A-level ever pass rate this year of 99.8% and the highest ever proportion of A*-C grades of 82.6%.  We also saw 100% pass rates on all our BTEC courses, rewarding the hard work and assignments completed by all our BTEC students.

    David Shaw, Principal at Bilborough College, congratulated students on their results.

    He said, “Along with the rest of the staff team here at Bilborough, I’m delighted that once again so many of our students have performed so well.  This is one of the most important days of the year for us and when everyone has worked so hard in such challenging circumstances, it is great to see all the effort, dedication and hard work rewarded with excellent results.  No one however should believe stories that UK students achieving grades in 2021 somehow had it easier this year than in other years.  Teacher assessed grades offer us a much more accurate and substantial reflection of what students are capable of achieving rather than the snapshot of exams where sometimes people just have a bad day.  As a consequence, overall results are up but there is no doubt that the grades achieved have been earned and there is solid evidence for them.

    The college now has key staff available every day right through to the start of term for advice and guidance around results, UCAS, and next steps for students.  We wish all the best to our students for their futures at university, on apprenticeships and in the workplace and are confident they are well equipped for a bright future.”

     

     

     



  • The first Work Related Experience and Progression week is a huge success

    Nicola Kirbynews

    Year 12 students took part in the college’s first ever fully remote work-related experience and progression (WREP) week. From May 24th to 28th 2021 all Year 12 students could access over 119 sessions with local and national providers, develop employability skills and learn more about their career plans. Every subject area at Bilborough Sixth Form College provided a career challenge and businesses also provided challenge activities in marketing, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, IT and fashion. We were able to attract international companies such as BBC, Channel 5 and the NHS to support the event with inactive workshops as well as many high-profile Universities such as Nottingham, Sheffield, Derby, Lincoln and Cardiff Metropolitan.

    Over the week the sessions were attended over 5000 times and students reported how informative and beneficial the week was for them. Director of Curriculum and Quality Andrew Ball was pleased with the new programme and its wider impact on the student experience at Bilborough Sixth Form College. He said “I believe this was an incredibly valuable and positive experience for our learners and a huge thank you to all the staff and external organisations that worked tirelessly to host an event of this size in such a tough year for education and young people”. The event was well received by the students, Joshua Eaton one of our Year 12 members of the Student Executive team said “WREP week was a great opportunity to explore not only what careers our subjects can lead to, but to explore various different career paths that we may not have considered before. Hearing from Politics graduates who had gone on to work in City Hall London, the Civil Service, with the RAF and in political consultancy made me all the more excited to apply for Politics at university.” Alison Lardi, Careers and Progression Manager, added “We would usually invite employers and universities into college during the year, and students would go out on work experience placements, but this couldn’t happen this year. The WREP week gave our students an even wider range of opportunities than usual though, and they developed employability skills in the subject and employer challenges. We were proud of how well they engaged, and now feel they have a great foundation for informed decision-making about their futures”.





  • Student launches fundraising drive after winning place at drama school with string of famous graduates

    Nicola Kirbynews

    A Bilborough College student is following in the footsteps of a string of famous graduates after securing a place at a prestigious London drama school.

    Grace Hodgett Young was thrilled to learn she had an offer from Mountview, in Peckham, which counts Amanda Holden, Ken Stott, Sharon Small and Happy Valley, Shameless and Thin Blue line star Mina Anwar among its alumni.

    Dempsy & Makepeace’s Glynis Barber, Downton’s Mr Bates Brendan Coyle, Shetland’s Douglas Henshall and soap stars Don Gilet, Michael French and Sally Dyvenor are also former students.

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  • Work from three Bilborough College students displayed as part of national online art exhibition themed around lockdown

    Nicola Kirbynews

    Work by three teenagers from Bilborough College is featured as part of a national online art exhibition to showcase the life of sixth form college students during lockdown.

    More than 140 students from 46 colleges submitted contributions to ‘At home’, which is being co-ordinated by the Sixth Form Colleges Association.

    Bilborough College students Chloe Duriez, Ellie Edwards and Daisy Evans all had their submissions accepted.

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  • Student accepted onto prestigious programme to support with Oxbridge entry

    Nicola Kirbynews

    A Bilborough College student has been accepted onto a prestigious programme that aims to help more young black and mixed race people get into Oxbridge universities.

    Tatenda Mapfaira has been selected to be part of the Target Oxbridge initiative, which is open to students across the country who are in Year 12. The 17-year-old heard about the programme from a relative who is a lawyer.

    She said: “His company works doing outreach and he told me about Target Oxbridge. I am hoping to study Medicine at an Oxbridge university so I decided to apply. I filled in an application and then there was an interview; we were sent three articles and we had to research and talk about them via Skype, we were also asked questions about them.

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  • Student awarded national prize for A Level Geography coursework

    Nicola Kirbynews

    A Bilborough College student was awarded a national prize for her A-level Geography coursework in a special ceremony that was held online due to current social distancing restrictions.

    Charlotte Parrish, 18, won the Geographical Association’s NEA (coursework) Proposal National Award and was due to be presented with her prize at the GA’s Annual Conference in April.

    However, due to the Coronavirus lockdown the conference was streamed ‘live’ on YouTube and her award was announced as part of the proceedings. She won a £100 Amazon voucher and will receive a certificate through the post.

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  • Students celebrate success in national Maths competition

    Nicola Kirbynews

    Students from Bilborough College are waiting to find out if they have made it to the national final of this year’s UK Senior Team Maths Challenge trophy.

    Sebastian Wright, Charlotte Jones, James Goodliffe and Liam Holland finished second in the regional final, which was held at the University of Nottingham and run jointly by the UK Mathematics Trust and the Further Maths Support Network.

    The team that finished first goes through to the national final but judges told the team from Bilborough College that they will be informed soon if they have done enough to secure a place at the event.

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  • Bilborough College student is kickboxing World Champion – a year after taking up the sport

    Nicola Kirbynews

    A student at Bilborough College is celebrating after winning Gold at the kickboxing Unified World Championships in Italy – despite only taking up the sport a year ago.

    Megan Hately, of Awsworth, was representing GB at the competition in Carrera where she claimed Gold in the continuous category, Bronze in the points category and Gold in the team points category.

    The 17 year old, who is studying A-levels in English Literature and Philosophy and a BTEC in Public Services, took kickboxing up a year ago after switching from Taekwondo.

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