Colleges Week 2011 : Octopus Communications

COLLEGES WEEK 2011

YOUR FUTURE, YOUR CHOICE

For the second year running, we ran the AOC's annual campaign to promote the role of colleges within the UK. This year, we joined forces with WorldSkills London 2011 to encourage people from all walks of life to try their hand at a new skill. The aim of the campaign was to promote the excellence of college education and its contribution to the UK economy. We also wanted to highlight college education as a post-GCSE option for young people.

In conjunction with WorldSkills, we helped colleges to stage 'Have a Go' events, where members of the public could try a new skill. We built and hosted the site collegesweek.org giving colleges the information and the help they needed. We promoted the college teachers behind the UK team competing at WorldSkills. Finally, we commissioned a major research project, the first of its kind, exploring awareness of post-GCSE options amongst 14-15 year old GCSE pupils.

The campaign was a remarkable success as over 10,000 Have a Go activities took place at colleges around the UK, resulting in almost 100 pieces of regional print media coverage. Colleges Week started with an interview for the AoC's Director of Policy on Radio 4 'Today', which was followed by more than 20 further broadcast interviews. Over 80% of Colleges reported the campaign a success, improving local engagement with their target audiences.