National recognition has been achieved by East Kent College in Broadstairs for its work with students with learning difficulties.

College representatives attended a ceremony at Westminster where they were presented with the Association of Colleges (AoC) Beacon Award for Students with Learning Difficulties and/or Disabilities.

Minister for Skills and Enterprise Matthew Hancock MP handed the award to college principal Graham Razey who said: “Through partnerships with key local employers we are able to offer students, who may otherwise have been excluded from the workplace, sustainable employment opportunities.”

The college won the award for a supported employment project with two strands - Bright Futures focuses on a link with East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust; Supported Internships applies the same processes but in partnership with a range of key employers.

The success of this approach has meant the college has worked with the Department for Education to enable Supported Internships to be rolled out across the further education sector.