Success for East Sussex College for the ninth year running

For the ninth consecutive year, the English language courses at the Eastbourne and Lewes campuses have been ranked in the top 5 per cent of all providers, and as the best offered by any further education college in the country.

EL Gazette (English Language Gazette), the international news and media company for English language teaching, ranked the UK providers based on the summary statements published by the British Council.

There were 15 areas assessed by the British Council, which EL Gazette then calculated to create the overall standings.

Mark Allen, international director at East Sussex College, said, “We are delighted to be ranked number one state college by the British Council’s Accreditation UK Scheme.

“To have achieved this for the ninth year running, while navigating the challenges of the Covid-19 outbreak, is testament to the hard work and dedication of the team, and the support we receive from the wider college.

“Teaching teams have had to work out new ways of delivering classes, and I have been so impressed by my own team as well as colleagues across the college who have found ways of teaching our students.

“We have some areas that have managed to deliver courses to students in the UK and at the same time, to students in Brazil and Japan. The levels of innovation and creativity in both teaching and support teams have been quite extraordinary.”

The Covid-19 outbreak halted the arrival of 450 overseas students due to study at the College’s campuses in Eastbourne, Lewes and Hastings, between March and August.

Like all areas of the college, the team embraced online delivery and continued to teach interactive lessons during the national lockdown.

At the beginning of September, the English language programmes restarted teaching. Some students were in face-to-face socially distanced classes, while others joining online.

Despite the difficulties of international travel, the numbers of overseas students studying academic and vocational courses has increased compared to last year.

This is welcome news for the local communities and host families who give overseas students such a wonderful experience and keep bringing them back to Sussex.