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Ormiston Rivers Academy, a secondary school deep in the Essex countryside, is continuing to expand its curriculum with technical qualifications from NCFE. Many learners are going on to achieve NCFE Technical Awards (V Certs), which are Department for Education approved alternatives to GCSEs and allow learners to demonstrate their knowledge through practical, hands-on content.

Ormiston Rivers Academy attracts learners with a wide range of differing abilities and previous educational experiences, with the majority of learners coming from a rural background and showing a strong interest in vocational subjects.

The NCFE Level 1 / 2 Technical Awards offered by the centre are in Engineering, Health and Fitness and Business and Enterprise, along with the NCFE CACHE Level 2 Award in Child Development and Care.

Lee Thurlow, an Engineering learner at Ormiston Rivers Academy said:

“The NCFE technical awards contain a lot of practical activities which we enjoy and we get to learn in great depth about our chosen subjects. They are great and help us prepare for sixth form or college.”

Kevin Rumary, Head of Design Technology at Ormiston Rivers Academy, commented:

“The Level 1 / 2 Technical Awards have allowed our learners to achieve great success and progress to further education, with many learners aiming to obtain a degree level apprenticeship in the future.

NCFE is consistently active in supporting us in the introduction and delivery of these qualifications and the comprehensive teaching packs available have helped centre staff to teach purposeful, relevant and interesting lessons.

We always have a consistent contact point to field any queries to and this has helped us to build a great relationship with NCFE over the years, they have taken the time to understand us as a centre.”

Ormiston Rivers Academy is passionate about recommending the technical awards to other centres, and they have helped other schools in the academy chain introduce these qualifications as alternatives to GCSES.

To find out more about NCFE Technical Awards please visit our website.