West Lothian College
About West Lothian College
West Lothian College is an award winning provider of further education based in Livingston, West Lothian. The College offers the widest range of academic and vocational qualifications in the area, offering a diverse curriculum to approximately 8000 learners.
Focused on being innovative in the delivery of high quality learning and supporting the needs of young learners, the College is led by Mhairi Harrington who won the TES UK FE Leader of the Year award in 2015 and was recently also awarded an OBE for Services to Education.
West Lothian College operates out of its main campus in Livingston as well as having offices in several other regions across the country including: Glasgow, Dundee, Inverness and Edinburgh. With a vibrant, modern and innovative learning environment, the College is well equipped to ensure that students have the best facilities and resources to help develop their learning and skills. For 2015-16 it was established that 96% of all HN graduates are now in positive destinations.
Renowned for its successful collaborations with external partners, the College was also an early adopter and pathfinder for “Foundation Apprenticeships”. The College’s successes include:
• Gaining accreditation for work in Science, Technology, Enterprise and Mathematics (STEM) and signing an innovative partnership with a leading Indonesian college
• International staff and student exchanges in 2015-2016 to Germany, Morocco, France, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Sweden, Gran Canaria and Thailand.
• 2015 and 2017 Winners of the “Best Restaurant in South East Scotland Award” voted for by the Scottish public for the College’s hospitality training facility the “Terrace Restaurant”
• Having secured investment, the college has completed recent extensions to its facilities with a new engineering multi-purpose workshop and a purpose built state of the art fitness suite to complement the existing sports hall. These are supporting the college to extend its curriculum further with programmes in construction, engineering and sports and fitness.
• Most recently receiving a national accolade (National Enterprise Educator Awards) for delivering exceptional enterprise or entrepreneurship education inside or outside the curriculum
• 2016 Education Scotland full review which recognised the effective leadership of the college
The College employs more than 320 staff making it one of the largest employers in the area.
Specialist Curriculum Areas
The College is renowned for a number of key specialisms in:
- Healthcare and Care
- Retail and Distribution
- Computing and Electronics
- Engineering
- Construction
- Sport and Fitness
- Hospitality
- Hairdressing and Beauty Therapy
- Creative Industries
- Business and Management
In October 2013, the Children's Hearings Scotland Training Unit officially came into being at West Lothian College. The College now delivers all pre-service training for Panel Members across Scotland.
The College also has a National Skills Academy for Customer Service and Retail, and works with a range of major retail companies.