Below you will find some brief background information about the 4 Colleges in Suffolk.

West Suffolk College

West Suffolk College has been judged Outstanding in many areas by Ofsted and graded Good overall when the College was inspected in May 2010.

Health and Social Care, Construction, Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy - were graded Outstanding, and Visual Arts and Media were graded as Good with many outstanding features.  Governance and Financial Management were also graded as Outstanding. The College's work with employers was considered excellent, and success rates for Train to Gain are high.

The Inspectors found that learners make good progress in and class and throughout their time at College, and that they develop vocational skills quickly and use them safely.

As well as the main campus in Bury St Edmunds, the College has a presence in Haverhill, Mildenhall, Stowmarket and Sudbury and is a centre of University Campus Suffolk.

The College offers training and education across a whole range, delivering full and part-time vocational and academic courses and Adult Education, Apprenticeships and Work Based Learning programmes. Apprenticeship frameworks span all industry sectors, and there is a vacancy matching service on the College website.

Bespoke training, targeted at specific commercial issues, can be designed and delivered through a half day workshop or a fully certificated programme. West Suffolk College works with more than 1500 companies locally, upgrading workforce skills and offering compliance training and Continuing Professional Development. The College is accredited with the Training Quality Standard (TQS).

The Suffolk School of Management is a Centre of Vocational Excellence for Management Training, with an extensive range of higher level training courses in the management and professional skills needed for individuals to excel.

West Suffolk College has a proven track record of engaging with employers - from multinationals to the smallest start up - and delivering high quality training.

Lowestoft College
Lowestoft College is a friendly and lively place to study and is dedicated to the success of its students.

A range of different people choose to study at Lowestoft College including school leavers training for their first career and mature students topping up their qualifications or retraining for a new career.

Lowestoft College has existed at its St Peter’s Street site for over 125 years and plans are now well under way to redevelop the campus and improve the facilities. The first stage, a dedicated construction and engineering block named as the Sir Christopher Cockerell Centre, was officially opened in April 2007.

Otley College
Otley College offers young people the opportunity to learn, train, socialise and have fun in a great atmosphere that brings learning to life. It’s the choice of thousands of students in East Anglia every year.

Our aim is to help our students succeed. Success to us means gaining the skills and knowledge to get a job, or the opportunity to progress onto another course.

We specialise in educating 16-19 year olds and adult learners. But the truth is, whatever your interest, Otley College will point you in the right direction.

Located in the heart of rural Suffolk, we are just ten minutes north of Ipswich. Give us a call – 01473 785543 – visit our website – www.otleycollege.ac.uk - or come and see us…

Suffolk New College
Suffolk New College, located in central Ipswich, can offer you vocational programmes, AS/A levels, GCSEs, Apprenticeships and much more in an exciting and stimulating learning environment.

We pride ourselves on the support we provide for our students, both academically and pastorally, and this is recognised by external quality agencies. Our aim is to work with you and to facilitate your success. We have a strong vocational emphasis across many of our courses and this prepares our students well for the world of work.