8 Welcome to our Annual Report.
This year has been both exceptional
and challenging in equal measure.
With the coronavirus pandemic,
we find ourselves in the grip of an
unprecedented global crisis. It has
required agility, flexibility and innovation
from our college and I am proud to say
our Team City more than stepped up to
ensure we continue to deliver excellent
teaching and a supportive learning
environment through a new blended
online and on-campus curriculum.
We took the decision early to close
our twin site campus on 17 March
and a number of tertiary institutions
immediately followed our lead. In a
single working day, we transitioned
some 1,600 staff and tens of
thousands of students relatively
seamlessly to purposeful home/remote
teaching and working with all available
tech support allocated; although of
course this was not possible for some
practical courses. As Scotland's super
college we also played a central role
as a civic anchor in our community
during this time of emergency. That
ranged from delivering 17,000 PPE
items to charities and vulnerable
groups across Glasgow. We made
£1.3m of government-supported
funding available to purchase some
2,000 new laptops for students to
ensure digital learning and teaching is
delivered, and to minimise any potential
exclusion of those students most in
need. We also further invested over
£340,000 in our twin campuses to
keep staff and students safe, deploying
a comprehensive range of safety
measures in accordance with Scottish
Government guidance - including the
addition of 10,000 safety signs, 120
Perspex screens, 400 hand sanitiser
stations and making available extensive
PPE equipment such as 40,000
reusable face masks and 55,000
disposable gloves.
As we recover and restart our
economy, City of Glasgow College is
already playing a pivotal role leading
the response in some of those sectors
most impacted by the pandemic -
retail, hospitality, tourism, construction,
manufacturing and creative industries.
Throughout lockdown our college
continued to train Scotland's workforce
remotely, delivering over 290 courses,
and training just over 2,300 employees.
To date, over 70 programmes
have been developed that can be
undertaken online with hundreds of
participants at any one time.
More broadly, since our pathfinder
merger in 2010, we are proud to have
supported over 100,000 graduates
in acquiring recognised qualifications,
and to have engaged with employers
and education partners to build a
curriculum of over 1,200 courses
across four faculties. As we mark our
10 year anniversary, City of Glasgow
College is positioned as a top
performing college across the UK for
technological and vocational provision,
building a network of 2,000 industry
partners. And in doing all this, our
college improves Glasgow's wellbeing,
playing a vital role in supporting people
from all backgrounds to fulfil their
economic potential. A forthcoming
study by the Fraser of Allander Institute
reports that, as a result of the eight
graduate cohorts covering the period
2011/12 to 2018/19, the Scottish
economy will be better off by over £6
billion in present value terms over the
long-term - or £56,000 per graduate.
The Cumberford Little Report,
commissioned by the Scottish
Government, co-authored by myself
and Audrey Cumberford, Principal
of Edinburgh College, and published
in February 2020, set out a clear
blueprint for the future of Scotland's
colleges, placing them as civic
anchors for economic and social
renewal. Co-authoring the report left
me as proud as ever of our sector
and the incredible role it plays in the
development and shaping of people's
lives, as well as Scotland's future.
Covid-19 is still creating unparalleled
social and economic challenges. I have
no doubt we will prevail together and
that colleges will remain central into
the delivery of Scotland's economic
recovery. Our college remains
enthusiastic in its approach to working
with partners to skill, re-skill and upskill
learners of all ages at any point in
their likely multiple careers. Now more
than ever, lifetime learning must be
enshrined and available to all of us -
and City of Glasgow College stands
ready to make that a reality.
Paul GK Little
Principal & CEO
City of Glasgow College Annual Report & Accounts 2019-20
Statement from the Principal