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In line with our Mission, Vision and Values we have developed a Strategic Development Plan.

 

To see what we have planned for the future Click Here.

Public Sector Duty Information

 

Northampton College has become one of the larger general Further Education Colleges in the region, with approximately 10,000 students, a turnover of almost £28 million and over 600 full time members of staff and around 400 ‘visiting lecturers’. It offers a broad range of full-time and part-time Skills Funding Agency (SFA) funded courses. In addition, it provides Higher Education courses funded through The University of Northampton and supports other organisations including those in the voluntary sector.

 

At Northampton College, we therefore have enormous potential to act as catalysts for positive change in people’s lives.

 

 

Our Mission

Our mission is to provide our community with the opportunity to develop through learning.

 

 

College Vision

As an inclusive general further education college, we are committed to serving our learners by:

• Identifying and focusing on key strands of provision

• Providing the highest quality learning experiences

• Employing new technologies to underpin learning

• Working closely with employers and others to meet the needs of the economy

• Working in the local community to widen participation in learning

• Promoting partnerships that deliver responsive and coherent learning provision

The outworking of this mission and vision is underpinned by our core values:

• Respecting and helping each other

• Engaging people through teaching with expertise and enthusiasm

• Developing people through learning

• Bringing out the best in each other

• Playing a positive role in our community

 

Introduction

 

Everyone has different beliefs and values, and these influence their attitudes. Beliefs and values develop according to individuals’ experience, their family background, social and cultural activities, travel and consumption of the media. Attitudes are often based on prejudices – this is inevitable – but the law dictates that prejudice must not influence behaviour and actions that result in discrimination, harassment or victimisation for people with protected characteristics under the Equality Act.

 

To help everyone act within the law, the College requires that its staff and students behave according to the values of the organisation rather than their own individual values while they are in the college environment. It publishes these values and makes sure they are embedded in the induction, management and monitoring process for everyone throughout their experience with the College.

 

As a learning organisation governed by the Public Sector Duty, the College seeks to go further than simply preventing prejudice from influencing behaviour. It exists to foster and promote good relations within communities and across groups of people including those with and without protected characteristics. This is enshrined in the Mission and Vision of the College and the principles these espouse aim to influence beliefs and values, affecting instances of prejudice while accepting that this can never be wholly eradicated.

The purpose of this report is to provide information and data about Northampton College. All further education colleges have a duty to:

 

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation.

• Advance equality of opportunity between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

• Foster good relations between those who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not.

There are nine ‘protected characteristics’ as defined in the Equality Act 2010. These are:

 

o Age

o Disability

o Race

o Sex

o Sexual orientation

o Gender reassignment

o Religion/belief

o Pregnancy and maternity

o Marriage and Civil Partnership (though the requirement to ‘advance equality of opportunity’ and ‘foster good relations’ does not apply to this characteristic).

 

 

Data Analysis - Student Profile

 

Gender

In 2010 - 2011, the student profile at Northampton College was Male 42% and Female 58%, this mix of genders having changed little over the past few years. The College takes positive action to recruit students according to their career and educational ambitions and their abilities and encourages males and females to consider options that are typically not seen as 'traditional' career routes. For example, it promotes women into engineering and men into childcare. The positive action the college has taken has seen an increase in enrolments in a number of these areas.

 

 

 

Ethnicity

The College is pleased to welcome a very diverse range of students and an analysis of its data shows that 26% of female and 19% of male students are from an ethnic minority background. For the county of Northamptonshire, the % of ethnic minority population was 7% and for Northampton 12% (Northamptonshire Observatory 2006)

 

Nationally, Ethnic minority students make up 19% of students in Colleges, compared with 12% of population. (AoC College Key Facts 2010)

 

 

 

 

Disability

All students are asked at application, enrolment and induction whether they have any learning difficulty or disability. The number declaring this in 2010 – 11 was 13.5% of students. There was no significant difference between genders. 

 

 

Age

The college enrols students from the age of 16 on full time and part time learning programmes with no upper age limit. In certain circumstances, the college also enrols younger students on both full and part time courses. In 2010 – 2011 the college had an enrolment profile of 3000 Full Time and 988 Part Time 16 – 18 year old students and 1055 Full time and 2171 Part Time students who were over 18. There were a further  554 adult students (over 18) following employer based courses and 463 apprentices aged 16+.

 

 

Religion and Belief

The college started asking students about both their religion & belief and their sexual orientation in 2009. It is interesting to note that the number of students selecting “prefer not to say” was significant in 2010. In 2009 the data was only collected from full time students but all students were asked in 2010. It is not possible, therefore, to compare accurately year on year.  The chart below clearly shows that Christianity is the religion/belief most common amongst the student body with Islam being the second most common.

 

 

 

 

Sexual Orientation

The percentage of students declaring their sexuality as Lesbian, Gay or bisexual was 1.4%. It is worth noting that 205 students declared their sexual orientation as “other” with the vast majority preferring not to say, as with religion/belief.

 

 

 

 

Data Analysis – Staff Profile

 

Gender

The whole staff establishment at Northampton College comprises 71% female and 29% male. Latest local and national FE data (Source: LSIS SIR 2009/10) indicates that nationally 63.7% of Further Education staff were female and 36.3% were male, and that there has been little change in the gender breakdown of staff over the past five years. Their statistics take into account both full time/fractional staff and hourly paid.  Closer inspection of Northampton College statistics shows that for full time/fractional teaching staff, the ratio is 65% female 35% male, all of these figures being the same as for 2009/10.  This implies that there is still significant under-representation of male staff in the College, in particular within business support roles.

 

 

Age

Nationally the LSIS SIR 09/10 Report shows that the FE “workforce tended to be in the older age groups and this has not changed radically over time”.

 

LSIS reports that, nationally, senior managers are on average 5 years older than other managers and have an average age of 50.  The Report also notes that nationally the “average age of teaching staff and managers was higher than staff in other occupational groups” and that the average age of staff in all occupational groups has overall risen in the last 5 years” (to July 10).  The College data shows a similar picture (see below).  However changes to the age of the workforce will shortly be seen if the current trend of recruiting younger staff under 25 years continues, as can be seen through the recruitment statistics below on page 19.

 

 

 

Disability

The percentage of full time/fractional staff who are eligible under the disability provisions under the Equality Act has risen again slightly this year from 7% to 7.12%. Nationally the average percentage of all FE staff defined as disabled has risen slightly to 3.2%, with 9.3% not known (Source: LSIS SIR Analysis 09/10).  The College has improved the personal data kept on staff through annual file audits, improved communication and more opportunities to disclose and discuss ways in which it can support disabled staff in the workplace.

 

 

Race/Ethnicity

To fall in line with Ethnic Minority definitions by LSIS, the College classifies as black and ethnic minority (BME) all staff who do not fall within the White British category.  Within the Ethnic Minority category further groupings are monitored. Within the White Other category the staff employed include those of Austrian, Canadian, French, German, Irish (Southern Ireland), Italian, Polish and New Zealand origin.

 

The College continues to work towards its aim to raise its non-white staffing profile to 8%.  The Northamptonshire Observatory website annual population survey March 2011 shows a BME population for Northamptonshire of 12.6%, of which 8.5% is non-white. For Northampton itself the BME population is 20.4%, of which 14.8% is non-white. At July 2011 10.84% (10.6% 09/10) of all College staff were BME, of which 4.21% were non-white (5.2% 07/08, 6.3% 08/09, 4.01% 09/10).  Northampton College BME academic staffing for 09/10 was 11.68% which can be compared with the national average of 13.3%; Source: LLUK SIR Analysis 09/10.

 

 

Religion & Belief

For the first year the College has started to collect data on religion and belief for existing staff through the annual file audit.  Just over the staff who returned the audit forms completed this question. 31% of staff said they were Christian, 13% declared no religion or belief, 6% atheist, with small percentages of staff saying, Sikhism, Judaism, Hindu and Islam.

 

 

Sexual Orientation

Similarly data collection on sexual orientation for existing staff was collected for the first time this year through the annual file audit.  Quite a low percentage 5.5% preferred not to say, although 39% said ‘none’.  54% said heterosexual and the remainder, only very low percentages, said bi-sexual, gay or lesbian.

 

 

Recruitment of New Staff

 

Age - The age of candidates who applied to the College at the different stages, application, short-listed for interview and selected into post are monitored and reported annually.  It shows that a higher percentage of applicants under 25 are being successful at interview, particularly in business support roles.  This is re-assuring as the age profile of the College is on average around 40-50 years of age.

 

Gender – Applicants continue to reflect the balance of male and female staff within the College.

 

Sexual Orientation and Religion/Belief - data has been collected for the first year and data will be able to be compared with next year’s statistics.

 

Ethnicity - The College reports on the ethnicity of applicants at the different stages; application, short-listed for interview and selected into post.  For simplicity, it is divided into White British and all other ethnic minorities.  Compared with 09/10 there has been an improvement in the collection of data with just over 200 unknown compared with just over 400 in the previous year.

 

Disability - It is often the case that applicants will not disclose a disability until after starting because of the fear of being discriminated against, or because they do not realise that they come under the Equality Act. In 08/09 20% of applicants chose to disclose a disability; however, in 09/10 and 10/11, this decreased to only 2%.  Of these 31% were short-listed for interview but, whilst only one applicant was appointed in 09/10, 5 were appointed in 10/11.  

 

 

Leavers

 

Age – The highest percentage of leavers (18%) were in the 60 plus age bracket.  This is not surprising given that many staff retire at this age.  The second highest percentage (17%) is at age 30-34 – with the main reasons for leaving being career progression. This could indicate a lack of career opportunities within the College if older staff are staying in role.  The range across other age brackets is well spread.

 

Gender –  64% of staff who left college were female and 36% male.  This reflects the current workforce statistics.

 

Ethnicity – 92% of staff who left the College were white British.  This is higher than the workforce for white British staff (89.42%).  Only 1% of staff who left were Black African and 1% were Black Caribbean.

 

Disability – 7% of staff who left the college were disabled.  This is lower than the percentage of disabled staff, which is 8.81%

 

 

 

Redundancies in 2011

 

Number terminated on ground of redundancy		23		4 male 19 female In 09/10 College ratio was 29:71
of which
Number from ethnic minority		None of the staff who were redundant were from an ethnic minority.		The College percentage of joint ethnic minorities for 09/10 was 10.6%
Number covered by DDA		2 (8.7%, but only 0.3% of total staff)		The College percentage of staff who came under the DDA in 09/10 was 8.81%
Age		40 to 54    =  7 55 & Over = 16

 

Employee Opinion Survey Stats

 

The 2011 survey contained 41 positive statements, organised into 12 broad themes, which staff were asked to rate on a scale of 1-5 (1 being lowest) in terms of their level of agreement.

 

The response rate was around 77% (based on Full Time and fractional staff) with 477 colleagues completing questionnaires. This represents an increase in participation of over 20% from the previous survey carried out in 2009. The data was analysed and converted into mean scores for each statement, so the higher the mean score (nearest to five), the higher the level of agreement with its sentiments.

 

The survey highlighted keen agreement with our approach to inclusivity and diversity, and scores were high, indicating that bullying and harassment is not a significant issue.

 

            The College embraces diversity (4.01)

            I know where to get help if I feel bullied or harassed (4.07)

            I am not bullied or harassed in college (4.18)

 

Rates of women returning from maternity leave

Nineteen members of staff have taken maternity leave this year, an increase of 9 from last year, of which 5 have returned and 14 are still on leave.  Nine members of staff took advantage of the ‘keep in touch’ days available to them during maternity leave. 

 

Board of Governors Diversity Data

Formal equality and diversity statistics in respect of the Board membership are illustrated below.

 

Gender – 57% (8) of governors are male and 43% (6) female

 

Age	Board 2010/11 %	Staff 2010/11 %
Between 16 and 24	14%	4.35%
Between 25 and 35	7%	19.03%
Between 36 and 45	0%	28.55%
Between 46 and 55	14%	28.55%
56+	65%	19.84%

 

Ethnicity

Diversity		Board 2010/11 %	Staff 2010/11 %		Students 2010/11 %	Comments
Ethnic Minority Groups		7%	10.6% BME of which 4.01% are non-white		18%	1% of students did not disclose ethnicity

 

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