9
City of Glasgow College Annual Report & Accounts 2019-20
Welcome to our 2020-21 Annual
Report. I am delighted that City of
Glasgow College remains one of the
top-performing colleges in the UK for
technological and vocational provision,
working across and delivering for a
vast network of industry partners.
This past year proved to be challenging
as we continue to deal with the
unparalleled difficulties caused by
the global pandemic; but we can be
extremely proud of our flexibility and
resilience which enabled the delivery of
another year of excellent success for
our students despite the necessarily
strict restrictions implemented to curtail
Covid.
I am also happy to report that despite
the major challenges caused by
Covid the college has remained in
strong financial health. An underlying
operating surplus for the year of
£72,000 was achieved.
We marked our tenth anniversary
during the last academic year and in
that time we have seen over 115,000
graduates gain nationally recognised
qualifications.
Our Purpose is to Let Learning
Flourish and we swiftly adapted our
fundamental model of how teaching
and learning was delivered, by moving
away from emergency remote working
to an increasingly sophisticated
blended learning and teaching
approach, as well as developing a
new hybrid working model. We have
effectively transitioned some 1,600
staff and tens of thousands of students
in this new way of operating.
Our ambitious Blue Ocean Strategy
positions the College as an anchor
institution with an international reach,
engaging with 2,600 companies across
231 industries.
We have connected with employers,
business, industry and education
partners to build a curriculum of over
1,200 courses across four faculties,
delivering locally, nationally and globally.
Our College's imprint and influence
continues to grow. The Fraser of
Allander Institute last year revealed the
substantive economic impact of City
of Glasgow College, reporting that
from eight graduate cohorts (2011/12
- 2018/19) the Scottish economy will
be over £6 billion better off in present
value terms - or £56,000 per graduate.
Several recommendations from the
2020 Cumberford-Little Report, which
provides a blueprint for the future
of colleges in Scotland, have been
endorsed by the Scottish Funding
Council's Review of Coherent Provision
and Sustainability, which, in turn, is
influencing Scottish Government policy
on the future of Tertiary education.
City of Glasgow College with its worldclass reputation
for Technological and
Professional learning and skills will be
at the forefront in driving the socioeconomic recovery
from the harms
caused by Covid, and will play an
instrumental role in delivering a just and
green transition.
The great city of Glasgow has recently
hosted the most critical summit in our
planet's history as we collectively strive
to swiftly find the right solutions to the
climate change emergency.
During COP26, our twin-site campus
- which has capacity for up to 40,000
students and staff - hosted world
leaders, VIPs and senior decision
makers from maritime, business and
academia, who attended events across
both sites of our world-class tertiary
college.
We transformed our Riverside campus
into the International Maritime Hub -
officially opened by Scotland's First
Minister Nicola Sturgeon - and our City
campus into a thriving Business Hub
and the base for innovative workshops
delivered by Climate Fresk, non-profit
climate change educators.
Our ambitious Blue Ocean Strategy
positions the College as an anchor
institution with a global reach. Despite
the restrictions from the pandemic, we
have made great progress developing
new international partners as well as
enhancing relationships in existing
collaborations.
If anything we have become even more
global and even closer to partners
through our digital connectivity. With an
international outlook, our partnerships
span five continents in 31 countries,
and the College has over 4,000
international students from some 130
partner institutions each year. These
are strong working relationships forged
across multiple sectors benefit not only
our students, but also our business
and industry partners.
City of Glasgow College is accelerating
our pioneering work in green skills to
support businesses and employees
through a "just transition" to a net-zero
economy, and it is more important than
ever for that we continue protecting
and empowering those most
disadvantaged in our society.
Paul GK Little
Principal & CEO
Statement from the Principal