Monday 6 July 2015

CIMA congratulates NULC


In the latest newsletter from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants Peter Stewart, Director of Learning, said: " You may recall that we launched a revised CIMA Global Learning accreditation scheme at the beginning of 2015, and I'd like to offer my sincere congratulations to five colleges in particular who have demonstrated a strength in performance and have been awarded our 'new' award of Advanced partner:
Newcastle under Lyme College (UK)
ISC – Indian School of Commerce (Kochi)
Robert Gordon University – Aberdeen Business School (UK)
Wise Owl Training (UK),
and The Richard Clarke Academy – Belfast (UK).


 

Friday 26 June 2015

Accounting students compete in 2015 CIPFA Sixth Form Management Games

On 24 June seven aspiring  NULC (Newcastle-under-Lyme College) A Level accounting students took part in the 2015 CIPFA (Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy) Sixth Form Management Games at Staffordshire University.

CIPFA is one of the leading professional accountancy bodies in the UK and the only one that specialises in the public sector. 

The game involves the students adopting the various roles that make up the management team of a fictitious public body dealing with very real issues such as major cuts in funding whilst at the same time remaining accountable to the communities in which they operate.  

The day was an excellent introduction to the world of work and a way of developing and strengthening teamwork, leadership, management and organisational skills.  The introduction of new and unexpected challenges throughout the game also allowed students to develop the skills required to deal effectively with time pressure, strict deadlines and uncertain outcomes.


Richard Simpson, NULC’s Curriculum Leader for A Level Accounting said: “Our students were fantastic, they engaged with some very demanding problems in a really positive and collaborative way and achieved some very credible outcomes.  All the students found the day a challenging but very rewarding experience."

To find out more about our range of accounting courses, click here.

(Picture from L-R: Andrew Lewis, Stuart Leat, Kain Davies, Maddie Sykes, Elanor Baddeley, Chris Bowers and Amy Moriarty)

Wednesday 18 March 2015

NULC apprentices sweep the boards at awards celebration

Newcastle-under-Lyme College (NULC) apprentices have won almost a quarter of all the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Local Enterprise Partnership Apprenticeship Recognition Awards.Mitchell Hill apprentice award web 2
Three NULC apprentices were recognised for their achievement in the run up to National Apprenticeships Week which started on 9th March. A total of 13 awards were presented at a ceremony in front of employers at the Kingston Centre in Stafford.
Dean Reddin, 22, of Caverswall who attended Rodbaston College, was nominated by his employer JCB. He is studying for a Level 3 NVQ Extended Diploma in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at NULC.
Dean has worked for JCB since August 2011 and has had 100% attendance and never been late for work in the last three and a half years. His performance was deemed outstanding as he'd made improvements to wire harnessing in one product which saved time and money, was a great JCB ambassador with customers and was trusted to write service help pages for a new model.
Kate Broome, Technical Excellence – Apprentice Advisor at JCB said: "Dean has always shown a great commitment to JCB Landpower and his apprenticeship. He continually puts in extra. He is an impressive role model to others in the team."
Mike Jones, 30, of Normacot was awarded a Level 3 certificate in Providing Financial Services at NULC. He has worked for Ageas Retail Partnerships of Trentham Lakes for eight years and has recently been appointed to a managerial role.
Said Mike's apprentice assessor Penny Bickley: "Mike has specifically helped with the retention of customers by offering first class service and leading the way with his approach. His product knowledge is second to none, aided by his ongoing endeavour to gain his insurance qualifications."
Mitchell Hill, 18, of Hanford, photographed above, who previously attended Trentham High School, works for Transairvac International of Newcastle-under-Lyme. Mitchell is studying for a Level 3 NVQ Extended Diploma in Engineering. His award nomination highlighted that he took responsibility for designing and fitting the racking for his company's new warehouse.
Said his tutor Colin Alaimo: "Mitchell works well in a team and can also be trusted to work on his own. He has also suggested different ways of doing some work processes which shows he's growing in confidence and becoming a good asset to his company."
Young people wanting to find out more about apprenticeships can visit the College's 12th March open day between 5:30 and 8pm and chat with leading employers about training, support and vacancies. To register in advance please go to: www.nulc.ac.uk/events.
Said NULC's head of employer training Vicky Boulton-Clarke: "The College has outstanding apprenticeship success rates, with results generally 10% higher than the  national average. I am delighted our apprentices - and effectively their far-sighted employers - have been recognised among the best in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent."
For further information on what NULC can do for business including recruitment, training and apprenticeships, please visit: www.nulc.ac.uk/nulc-for-business.

Friday 27 February 2015

100% pass rate puts accounting on course for platinum rating

Newcastle-under-Lyme College (NULC) students are this week celebrating a 100% pass rate on five different accounting courses.
Twenty-six NULC students sat worldwide Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) exams in December and, when their results arrived this week, all of them had passed. This bucks a national average pass rate of 48%.
The clean sheet was for the Accounting Fundamental papers (F4, F5, F6, F7 and F8). NULC students also exceeded the national results in the Professional Papers where 77% of students passed P2 and 50% passed P3 against the national score of 50% and 48% respectively.
NULC was awarded ACCA Gold approval in 2013, which gives recognition to the quality of tuition provision and support for accounting students. Having exceeded the national pass rates in all December 2014 papers the College can set its sights on the Platinum level award following the next results in June.
In order to achieve the Gold approval the College demonstrated its commitment to quality by fulfilling a range of challenging performance targets relating to infrastructure, student feedback, quality of tutors and best practice provision of ACCA tuition and support.
Said NULC ACCA/CIMA Coordinator Sarah Champ: "The students and the staff are absolutely delighted with these outstanding exam results. Most of the students are sponsored on these professional qualifications by their employers so we are also pleased to be providing such a great return on investment.
"It shows that smaller class sizes and top quality teaching methods, rather than simply lecturing, really works for students."
Accounting is one of a series of professional part-time qualifications offered by NULC locally which allow students to improve their career prospects while continuing to work. These including law, finance, engineering, computing, business administration, health and social care, teaching, and leadership and management at a range of levels. To find out more, please click here.
Accounting Success 2015 LR

Friday 10 October 2014

Helping Each Other - The Benefits of Peer Learning


Nobody can argue that studying with friends is more fun than learning alone. However, educational research has found that the benefit of working with peers extends far beyond the social aspects. In fact by helping each other in the classroom and outside it, you are more likely to fully understand and remember the topics you share.

Whether it’s working in pairs, revising together in the final weeks, interacting in a Facebook study group or helping out a perplexed classmate, all types of peer learning have been shown to be highly effective in terms of boosting motivation, focus and depth of understanding.

You may have come across a situation where a friend is unable to figure out a difficult accounting problem in class. Where possible, I’m sure you’ve lent a hand by taking them through the correct method.

Clearly, this is of great benefit to your friend because they can move on with their work, but it also has inherent benefits for you too.

Studies have shown that the cognitive process of explaining the solution and dealing with your classmate’s questions and misunderstandings will actually embed that knowledge further into your own memory and enhance your own understanding of the subject.  This process can result in ‘deep learning’, the type that is retained by the long-term memory rather than ‘surface learning’ which can cause information to dissipate from memory, shortly after class.

Peer Work in a Classroom Environment

Fully aware of the extensive benefits of peer work, your classroom teacher may seek to harness these by integrating peer related tasks as part of your learning process. You may find yourself delivering presentations, marking and feeding back the strengths and weaknesses of a class mate’s work, producing quiz questions or even interacting in team debates.

These student-centred activities have been linked to more effective learning because you will need to actively engage with the material in order to participate- a factor that is missing when learning is passive such as listening and taking notes in a traditional lecture. Inclusion of this type of activity adds variation to learning, but can also enhance your interest and motivation levels, encourage group cohesion and should ultimately result in a better comprehension of the topic.

Misgivings

Some students can be reluctant to undertake peer related tasks. They may feel it is the job of the teacher to provide knowledge and that is the purpose of them attending college. However, they are likely to be unaware that in addition to the teacher’s expertise, the process of listening to a classmate’s interpretation of a subject, hearing it spoken in a familiar voice and expressed in a different manner can actually enable that information to internalised more readily. Research has shown that complex ideas can be processed more easily when communicated via a range of sources -your teacher’s explanation is just one of these.

Others students find they are hesitant to trust the opinions or views of their peers. They may feel that any feedback given is subject to strong friendship bias. This concern can be alleviated by tasks, which provide a level of anonymity, for instance, blind marking of each others written work or through use of online interactive platforms.

Employability

Adding to their worth, it is argued that student led classroom activities such as group presentations can provide a supportive environment to help you to develop those business critical skills that CIMA outline in their paper, Ready for Business  Bridging the employability gap [available online]
Peer work develops communication skills, confidence and instils the use of effective language. These are employability factors that employers are actively seeking alongside exam results.

Peer Assessment

Extending peer interaction into the area of assessment, the act of marking one another's work can lead to enlightenment and provide a marvellous insight into how exam candidates can miss marks through easily correctable errors in exam technique. For example, as you provide feedback on your classmate’s work, you will begin to generate ideas and see from a different perspective just how you can improve your own grades. With practice, you can start to view your own exam script through the eyes of the marker.  Your teacher can explain until they are blue in the face the importance of allocating the correct amount of time to questions based on marks available. However, there is nothing quite like seeing, firsthand, the disastrous impact on the overall grades of classmates when they have not followed this guidance.

Employability and personal growth

Providing honest feedback on a classmate’s efforts can be character building and prepares you for the day when you must tactfully appraise staff or communicate sensitive issues in the Boardroom. Finding a way to criticise results without offending or dismissing efforts is a delicate balance that requires immense interpersonal skills.

Faced yourself with constructive feedback from a peer assessment– you will start to develop the ability to respond positively to criticism and utilise comments to improve, this is far better than regarding them as a personal affront. Nurturing that key quality of resilience you will be equipped to begin the continuous cycle of self-improvement that underpins professional and academic success.

So next time you are stuck needing help, don't hesitate to ask a nearby classmate if they could talk through the method. They are likely to be happy to help and in fact you will be benefitting their learning as well as your own.
 

Catherine Shirley ACMA

Lecturer of Accounting

Newcastle under Lyme College,

Staffordshire.

*Catherine's article will also feature in the next issue of CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accounts) magazine this October.

Monday 13 January 2014

College achieves accounting gold

Newcastle-under-Lyme College (NULC) has been awarded Gold approval by the worldwide Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).

The award, under the Approved Learning Partner  – student tuition programme, recognises the quality of tuition provision and support for ACCA students.

In order to achieve the Gold approval the College had to meet a range of challenging performance targets relating to infrastructure, student feedback, quality of tutors and best practice provision of ACCA tuition and support.

Dominic Whittaker, Head of Faculty: Technology and Enterprise, at the College said: “We are extremely proud to have been awarded gold approval for our ACCA qualifications.  It’s proof that we’re providing learners with quality tuition and support.”

The College offers ACCA accounting qualifications to eligible adults aspiring to become a qualified accountant at its £60 million campus on Knutton Lane.  The ACCA accounting papers are internationally recognised and membership provides improved career progression opportunities within the accounting profession.

Sarah Champ, Accounting Lecturer, at the College said: “By studying for an ACCA qualification at the College, you’re studying a professional qualification which once completed will certify you as a qualified accountant, enabling you to progress further in your career in the financial industry.”

To find out more about ACCA qualifications or other professional part-time courses for adults visit www.nulc.ac.uk or contact the Information Point on 01782 254254 or email info@nulc.ac.uk.

Monday 4 March 2013

Accounting success for adult learners

Newcastle-under-Lyme College (NULC) has achieved exceptional pass rates for a second year running.

Adult learners studying professional accounting courses by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) have exceeded national pass rates.

Sarah Champ, ACCA co-ordinator and Accounting lecturer at the College, said: “Collectively the learners on the course have achieved pass rates of between 75% and 85% in three of the ACCA papers which is remarkably higher than the national pass rates.”

Learners studying an ACCA course have to study a number of modules and complete exams in various papers written by the ACCA.  Pass rates at NULC for the various papers are all above 75%, compared to national pass rates of between 32% and 47% (December 2012).

Ricky Allman, aged 21 from Whitchurch, is studying part-time for the ACCA qualification at NULC whilst working as a Junior Accountant at Teasdale & Co Accountancy Practice in Whitchurch, Shropshire. 

Ricky recently passed two of the Level 5 ACCA papers in Performance Management and Taxation scoring 72% and 77% achieving these marks is considerably higher than the pass mark of 50%.  Commenting on his success Ricky said: “I’m an ambitious person, and want to continually better myself and achieve the highest qualifications possible to enhance my future job prospects.”

Since studying part-time at NULC, Rick said: “I have much more responsibility at work and I’m trusted with more complicated tasks in the workplace.”

Ricky wasn’t the only one achieving exceptionally high pass rates.  Lewis Knapp, aged 21 from Stafford, also studying towards ACCA qualification has achieved 74% and 72% in the same papers.  Lewis is working as a semi Senior Accountant at Dean Statham LLP.

Sarah added: “Both Ricky and Lewis are dedicated students who’ve both clearly taken advantage of the resources available at NULC enabling them to achieve fantastic results and progress in their careers.”

NULC offers a range of professional courses for adults at its £60 million campus on Knutton Lane, including AAT and ACCA accounting courses.  The ACCA accounting papers are internationally recognised and membership allows greater flexibility when applying for accounting roles. 

To find out more about ACCA qualifications or other professional part-time courses for adults visit www.nulc.ac.uk or contact the Information Point on 01782 254254 or email info@nulc.ac.uk.