Loreto College Celebrated at No. 10

Leaders of the highest performing and most quickly improving colleges in England celebrated their institutions’ achievements in Downing Street this week.

Loreto College was selected to attend as a high performing College: it is the first and only college in the country to achieve Grade 1 Outstanding status in all of the new and very rigorous Ofsted inspection categories. The Department for Children, Schools and Families has recognised Loreto’s achievement through the presentation of the highly prestigious Beacon Award for the Successful Delivery of Advanced Level Qualifications. The award was presented as part of the Association of College’s Beacon Awards ceremony in February.

The Award reflects Loreto's outstanding delivery of Advanced Level qualifications to 16-19 year olds. Through advice, sustained support and careful monitoring of their progress, Loreto Sixth Form College has helped students to achieve higher grades than the national average in their A-levels. These results have placed the College at the top of the Government league table for value-added. It also noted that 85% of Loreto students go on to higher education.

At the awards ceremony the chair of the Association of College’s also announced the President's Prize, the "cream of the crop … an outstanding example of achievement in further education" chosen by the President of the AoC Charitable Trust, paralympic gold medallist Giles Long, MBE. The winner was Loreto College.

He said: "This project stood out for me because of its aim of providing a pathway to channel young people towards bettering themselves through education. I am a big believer that talent is gifted irrespective of class, but it is the harnessing of that talent that is not only crucial for the individual but for the nation as a whole."

At the event at Downing Street, Ann Clynch CBE, principal of Loreto,met with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson and Further Education Minister Kevin Brennan.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said:

“The principals, staff and students should be very proud of their achievements, and I am delighted to celebrate their success here in Downing Street.’’

Lord Mandelson said, “It is right that we celebrate excellence and these colleges are Beacons of success that we can all be proud of.’’