The Government Skills and Equalities Minister, Nick Boles MP, received a tour of SEEVIC College and met local apprentices to talk about their experiences and how their apprenticeships are giving them the skills they need to start a career in their chosen trades.

The Minister also spoke to the principle of the college, Nick Spencely, about the partnership between SEEVIC and the Deanes School and about education funding.

Mr Spencely said:

"Nick Boles gave a courteous response to concerns I raised on behalf of Seevic and the other Essex colleges.  He acknowledged that Further Education has faced significant pressures on funding.  He also complimented the College on the maturity of its Student Executive members who met him."

Local MP Rebecca Harris, who arranged the visit said:

“It was very good of the Minister to come down and visit SEEVIC and hear straight from local apprentices about their courses and their hopes for the future.

“I am also very pleased that principle got the chance to talk about the future of education funding and their emerging partnership with The Deanes School.”

Seevic College was established as a Sixth-Form College in 1972 and in recent years has grown in to a thriving community College meeting the needs of almost 3,000 learners from across the region.

The College’s Sixth-Form Centre offers a large range of A-Level, Vocational and Professional programmes. The College also offers Foundation Level courses, Apprenticeships, Higher Education and Adult & Community courses.

Last year (2013-14) the College was among the top 10% performing schools and colleges in England for progress achieved by A-Level students.

This outcome, published by ALPS, the nationally recognised measure of student progress, measured students’ progress by comparing the GCSE scores before joining the College to their end of year A-Level grades.