Warwick Trident College holds special celebration to mark arrival of Queen's Anniversary Prize

By Kirsty Muir

30 June 2022

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Staff, students and apprentices at Warwick Trident College held a celebration event as a prestigious prize which recognises its innovative engineering training arrived at the college.

WCG was presented with The Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education last month and for the first-time staff and students at the college were given a chance to see the award.

The prize was awarded to the college group for its pioneering work in the engineering sector, and Warwick Trident College is one of WCG’s three centres of engineering excellence – alongside Evesham College and Rugby College.

Angela Joyce, CEO of WCG, showed staff and students the prize which had been presented to her by His Royal Highness Prince Charles in a ceremony held at St James’s Palace.

It is the first stop in the college group’s plans to take the prize around all of its colleges in Warwickshire and Worcestershire, allowing staff to see the reward for their work in developing engineering sector training over the last 25 years.

WCG has been a trailblazer for employer-centric engineering provision for more than 25 years and has seen its engineering apprentice numbers grow from 40 in 1996 to 1,195 in 2021.

Warwick Trident College was at the centre of the college group’s bespoke training programme with Jaguar Land Rover and now works with a range of major companies to train their apprentices.

The college features state-of-the-art engineering workshops and laboratories for students and employers.

Through its newly launched university centre - Warwickshire College and University Centre – the college is now delivering its own degree-level courses, including courses in Engineering.

It comes after the college group became the first in the UK to gain Bachelor Degree Awarding Powers.

Angela Joyce, CEO of WCG, said: “Warwick Trident College has been right at the heart of our continued success in engineering, so it was a pleasure to be able to bring the Queen’s Anniversary Prize to the college and share it with our staff and students.

“The work we have done at Warwick Trident College over the last 25 years with our pioneering approach to employer-led engineering training was a vital aspect in winning the prize.

“We will be taking the prize around all of our colleges to allow people who have contributed to the award to celebrate their success.”

Dillon Hagan, Rail Engineering Technician apprentice with Alstom, accompanied WCG to St James’ Palace on the day the college received the prize. He is completing his studies at Warwick Trident College.

Dillon said: “I was nervous, of course, but getting to talk to the people from WCG about my story settled the nerves. Before I knew it, I was deep in conversation with Prince Charles!

“I’m proud to have studied with Warwick Trident and would like to thank the college for the opportunity to represent them at the ceremony. It’s something I will never forget.”