York College

23/06/2026

☀️ What a fantastic day at Welcome Fest!

It was great to see so many of our new students who'll be joining us in September.

We hope everyone had a brilliant time having fun, getting involved, celebrating the end of exams and kicking off the summer with us before the break.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us...especially in the summer heat! 😎

We hope you have an amazing summer, and we'll see you soon!

22/06/2026

📢 Reminder for Students

On Tuesday 23rd June, we will be hosting our annual Welcome Fest and Early Enrolment Day for new applicants.

Current students are not required to attend College on this day, except for those scheduled to complete Barratt Redrow, Brick or Stone End-Point Assessments, and Functional Skills Maths apprentices.

Adult evening classes will run as normal.

We look forward to welcoming our new students! 🎉

22/06/2026

A big thank you to Derwent Lions for taking the time to visit our Student Union members and see first-hand the impact of their generosity.

Derwent Lions kindly donated funds to our in-house Care Closet, enabling us to purchase essential toiletries for students who need extra support. These everyday items can make a real difference, helping students focus on their studies without worrying about basic necessities.

Your continued support allows us to keep initiatives like this running and ensure that help is available when students need it most. Thank you for making a positive difference in our college!

19/06/2026

We could not be prouder of our Sport & Exercise Science student Sam Gowland, who has become a powerlifting world champion - less than two years after taking up the sport!

Sam helped Team GB to Under-18 gold at the International Powerlifting Federation - IPF World Classic and Equipped Bench Press Championships in Warsaw, Poland.

After lifting more than double his own weight, the former Barlby High School pupil, who is supported by the GLL Sport Foundation, also won individual bronze and has credited the psychology modules on his College course with helping him achieve the required mental approach to succeed on a global stage.

Incredible work, Sam!

Click below to read more ⬇️

York College student Sam Gowland has become a powerlifting world champion – less than two years after taking up the sport.

18/06/2026

Good luck to our fabulous five students who are competing in the WorldSkills UK National Competition qualifier that we are proudly hosting on Campus today.

From left-to-right Theatrical, Special Effects, Hair & Media Make-up students Mia Costanzo and Imogen Harris and Beauty Therapy students Tilly Hofert, Lily Hayes and Freiya Scott are showcasing their talents, along with almost 50 other students and apprentices from across the UK.

The categories being contested are Beauty Therapist, Beauty Therapy Practitioner and SFX Make-up for Film & TV with the best going on to be considered for the Team GB WorldSkills squad.

We were stunned by some of the wonderful work on show this morning!

18/06/2026

Congratulations to Georgia Linsey-Bessant, who was named the inaugural winner of the Roy Wallington “Best in Show” Award at our 2026 Degree Show.

The prize was presented by Shaun Parker, Master of The Company of Merchant Taylors in the City of York, in the memory of the company’s former trustee Roy, who sadly passed away at the age of 63 earlier this year.

BA (Hons) Fashion Design & Garment Technology student Georgia also received a cash prize of £1,000 and an invitation to exhibit her work in the Merchant Taylors' Hall, York.

Sponsored prizes from Aesthetica Magazine, The Company of Cordwainers of the City of York and York Rotary, UK were also presented at the show, which celebrates the final year's work of our degree-level York School of Art undergraduates and was hosted at the Spurriergate Centre last weekend.

We'd also like to say a big thank you to Guest Speaker Cherie Federico, Director of Aesthetica Magazine and the Aesthetica Short Film Festival, for opening the show with some very inspiring words at the invitation-only preview night.

For a full rundown of all the show's winners and pictures, click below ⬇️

Georgia Linsey-Bessant was named the inaugural winner of the Roy Wallington “Best in Show” Award at the York College & University Centre 2026 Degree Show.

18/06/2026

Thank you to The Durham Ox for being a sponsor of our REACH Awards!

Our REACH awards are a fantastic opportunity to celebrate all the wonderful achievements of our students and apprentices. Without sponsorship, events such as these would not be possible so we really appreciate the support!

To learn more about our REAXH Awards, click here ⬇️

https://www.yorkcollege.ac.uk/events-and-news/events/reach-awards-2

17/06/2026

Congratulations Hamam Mustafa!

Having been unable to attend our Construction Awards earlier this month, Hamam popped in to College to receive his Painting & Decorating Full-Time Student of the Year Award.

The award was sponsored by Woodstone1 .

17/06/2026

Following this morning’s exciting news that our Esports tutor Joe Hopper has been named one of The Pearson National Teaching Awards Silver winners, we continued the Thank a Teacher UK Day celebrations in our Cube 360 Immersive Room.

Loads of amazing messages of gratitude from students are being displayed there on a loop and we have also congratulated more of our teachers and teams, who were recognised in the prestigious annual Pearson Awards.

Laura Heward, Vicky Joyce, Clare Kirton, Sian Mantovani and Hayley Smith-Herman were all Highly Commended in the FE Lecturer of the Year category.

In the Outstanding New Teacher category, meanwhile, Matthew Bird was Highly Commended and Steve Whaling received a Certificate of Achievement.

Our Construction, Learning & Innovation and Safeguarding & Wellbeing teams were also Highly Commended in the FE Team of the Year category.

A big well done to everyone and thank you to all our terrific tutors for their dedication and hard work this academic year.

17/06/2026

Huge congratulations to our amazing apprentices Charlie Thompson and Aeddan Bate who have qualified for this year’s Go Construct National SkillBuild final.

Charlie, who is employed by Withington & Cornish Masonry Contractors Ltd, finished first in the penultimate regional qualifier at the Leeds College of Building in the Bricklaying category.

Aeddan, who is employed by Treske, matched that achievement at Leeds in the Furniture & Cabinet Making category.

Well done, too, to our Painting & Decorating apprentice Kaela Jameson, who placed third in the Leeds qualifier.

Kaela is employed by Dee Dee Decorations.

We’re already looking forward to see how Charlie and Aeddan perform in the national final at Arena MK in Milton Keynes during November.

Best of luck, guys!