Awards
2023/2024
College Awards and Achievements
CAVC made it to the finals of the Association of College’s UK-wide Beacon Awards in the Jisc Effective Use of Digital Technology in Further Education category
Estyn, His Majesty’s Inspectorate for Education and Training. Published an inspection report highlighting the positive work of CAVC’s apprenticeship provision
The College jumped from 7th to 3rd in the National Centre for Diversity’s Top 100 Most Inclusive Employers Index
CAVC retained its Microsoft Showcase College status and its CyberFirst Gold College status
The College’s Families Learning Together won a prestigious Inspire! Award for the positive impact they have had on communities across the Capital Region
Foundation Learning Lecturer Dave Moody won the Pioneer Award in the WorldSkills UK Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Awards
The Classroom made it to the Finals of the AA College Restaurant of the Year competition
John Fairgrieve of CAVC’s Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Department won a Jisc Community Champion Award for his work with their ER (Enhanced Reality) community
Student Awards and Achievements
CAVC learners won 34 medals in Skills Competition Wales – including a record 19 gold medals
Brickwork learner Josh Nicholls came third in the Guild of Bricklayers Welsh Finals on the same day he picked up his gold medal for Brickwork from Skills Competition Wales
The Men’s Rugby Academy were 2024 WRU Welsh Schools College Development League Champions and came fourth in the Welsh Schools and Colleges A License League 2023
CAVC Rugby Academy alumni Evan Lloyd and Mackenzie Martin were selected for the Wales squad for the Six Nations
HND is Hospitality Management learner Ruby Pile represented Wales and the UK at WorldSkills Lyon 2024
Leaners Sean Early and Sara Head won Agored Access to HE Learner of the Year for Outstanding Academic Achievement and Outstanding Commitment respectively. Sara also won the UK Wide Keith Fletcher Memorial Award for Access learners
Level 3 Culinary Arts learner Maddison Evans represented Wales in the World Chef Olympiad in India
Former Cyber Security learner Jospeh Dancer won gold in the WorldSkills UK IT Support Technician Finals
Skills for Progression Learner Ceinwen Hopkins won in the Young Writers Fright Club competition and their short story was published in the book Ghost Stories, Creeping Shadows
Former A Levels learner Rhydian Brown won a Medal of Excellence in Web Design at the EuroSkills 2023 competition
Level 3 Esports learners took part in the Welsh Colleges Esports Cup and by the semi-finals had knocked out all of the competitors. Noah Avoth came out on top, having not dropped a single game in the tournament
2022/2023
College Awards
CAVC Group Principal Kay Martin was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for Services to Education
CAVC and Sgil Cymru’s CRIW film and television apprenticeship was shortlisted for the FE Week AELP AAC Apprenticeship awards
CAVC was shortlisted in the Association of Colleges Beacon Awards for the AoC Excellence in Governance Award
The Careers and Ideas team won a Careers Wales Award for Careers Development (Post 16)
The Classroom won Romantic Restaurant of the Year at the Wales Restaurant Awards
CAVC won a Princess Royal Training Award for Outstanding Training and Skills Development Programmes
The Classroom made it to the top three in the AA College Restaurant of the Year Competition
The College was re-accredited for Leaders in Diversity status by the National Centre for Diversity
Project SEARCH Lecturer Kerri Ince won an Inspire! Tutor Award
The CAVC Wellbeing team won silver in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Wales Awards for Outstanding Impact in Education
The College retained its Microsoft Showcase College status
Student Awards
CAVC learners won a record 36 medals in Skills Competition Wales – seven gold, 15 silver and 14 bronze
The CAVC Rugby Academy were back-to-back Welsh Schools and Colleges champions, winning the Cup Final for the second year in a row
At the WorldSkills UK Finals, Ieuan Morris-Brown won gold in Automotive Body repair and Ruby Pile won silver in Restaurant Service
Year 3 BEng Aircraft Engineering learners entered Kingston University’s Bright Ideas competition, sweeping the board in one category and coming second in another
CAVC Foundation Learning Football was placed 4thin the AoC UK Pan Disability Football National Championships
CAVC’s Basketball Academy won the AoC South West League
Creative Media Production and Technology learner Zac Smith won an RTS Cymru Student Award in the Undergraduate Factual category
Performing Arts learner Katie Pritchard won Best Young Actor at the It’s My Shout Awards
Construction and Building Services student David Taylor came second in the Welsh heats of the Guild of Bricklayers competition
Former student Ewan Heppenstall won an Inspire! Young Adult Leaner of the Year Award
Hospitality learners Callum Patterson, Louis Rochon and Jack Mathews won a Transport for Wales competition to create menus for its first-class Blas menu
Former learner Ewan Heppenstall won an Inspire! Award for Young Adult Learner of the Year
Electrical Installation apprentice Duncan Kinnaird won the Welsh heats of Sparks Learner of the Year
Heating and Ventilation apprentice Nathan Kelly won the Welsh heats of HIP Learner of the Year
2021/2022
College Awards
- Cardiff and Vale College was named as one of the winners in the 2022 Princess Royal Training Awards for its exceptional commitment to learning and development
- CAVC continued to lead the way in Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL), winning re-accreditation and remaining the first and only Microsoft Showcase College in Wales
- CAVC won the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador Award at the WorldSkills UK EDI Awards
Student Awards
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CAVC students won 25 medals in Skills Competition Wales – 10 gold, seven silver and eight bronze
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Cai Pugh won a Career Ready Student of the Year Award
- Sport student Will Hawker won silver in the Wales U20 Indoor Athletics Championships Men’s 60m
- Former student Shokhan Hasan won the Agored Access to Higher Education Learner of the Year Awardfor her dedication to her studies at the College
- Claire Gurton won an Inspire! Award for adult learners for her commit to working with the College’s Families Learning Together programme to help with her son Mackenzie’s progress at school
- The CAVC Rugby Academy won the WRU’s Welsh Schools and Colleges Cup Final
- Chardonnay Palmer won bronze in the Inclusive Skills UK Hairdressing Finals
- Rhydian Brown won sliver at the WorldSkills UK Web Design Finals
- In the WorldSkills UK Automotive Body Repair Finals, Joel Windsor won silver, and Lewis Hastings won bronze
- Callum Roberts won silver and Sion Lewis won bronze in the WorldSkills UK Automotive Refinishing Finals
- The College’s Basketball Academy won the Welsh Colleges Basketball Championships
- Creative Media students Lloyd Todd and Jarred Sullivan won in the USW Film and TV Schools Wales Schools and Colleges Awards in the Best Narrative Film (Documentary) category
2020/2021
College Awards
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CAVC was crowned the best in the UK in the Support for Learners category at the TES FE Awards 2021
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CAVC moved up from 12 to 2 in the National Centre for Diversity’s Top 100 Most Inclusive Workplaces Index at the Centre’s 2021 Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement (FREDIE) Awards. It also won FE College of the Year
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CAVC achieved re-accreditation for its Leaders in Diversity status
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CF10 – the College’s catering and retail providers – was placed in the UK’s Best Companies to Work For li
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The College was also re-accredited for the Matrix Quality Standard Award for whole college provision
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CAVC was awarded the National Cyber Security Centre's Gold CyberFirst School Award
- ILS Lecturer Chantelle Deek was Highly Commended in the WorldSkills Diversity and Inclusion Awards, in the Competition Diversity Category
Student Awards
- CAVC students brought home 14 gold, seven silver and nine bronze medals from Skills Competition Wales – a record year for golds for the College
- Auto students won an impressive ten industry and skills awards
- Electrotechnical Installation apprentice Kaiden Ashun won the UK-wide Screwfix Trade Apprentice 2021 competition
- BBC/CAVC Junior Journalist Jack Grey was commended in the Top Scoop category of the National Council for the Training of Journalists Excellence Awards 2020
- Shaun-Junior Bishop was a runner up and commended in the Keith Fletcher Memorial Access to HE Awards in the Outstanding Commitment to Learning category
2019/2020
College Awards
- CAVC becomes one of the first colleges to work with the WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence
- At the first-ever Wales Creative and Cultural Skills Awards, Film and Media Lecturer Cristina Raad was joint winner in the Wales Creative Tutor of the year category
- CAVC moved from 15th to 12th in the National Centre for Diversity’s Top 100 Index, and the College won the Centre’s award for its commitment to fairness, respect, equality, diversity, inclusion and engagement (FREDIE)
- The College was commended for its work on engaging with employers at the prestigious UK-wide Association of Colleges (AoC) Beacon Awards. The Beacon Awards judges also commended CAVC for the ‘real, not realistic’ learning experience it provides
Student Awards
- Aero student Kierran James suffered a horrific fall whilst serving in Kenya which put his Army career on hold but in 2020 he won an Inspire! Award for learning against the odds
- A Level Art student Jacob David had his work featured in an online Royal Academy Summer Exhibition for young artists
- CAVC Football Academy Captain Jack Pascoe signed a full scholarship with Casper College in the US
- Students from the Cardiff and Vale College Group won more medals in Skills Competition Wales than any other Welsh College
- Auto learner Naim Ahmed won Full-time Student of the Year and a £2,000 bursary at the UK-wide Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) Annual Awards
- The CAVC Rugby Academy’s first Captain, Ben Thomas, signed a senior contract with the Cardiff Blues and a further four Rugby Academy players were signed up on U18 contracts
- Hospitality student Ieuan Jones jetted out to India for the International Young Chef Olympiad and won the medal for Best Dessert Creation
- At the first-ever Wales Creative and Cultural Skills Awards, CAVC Foundation Degree in Film learner Megan O’Brien won Wales Creative Student of the Year
- Cardiff and Vale College and Glamorgan CC’s Education and Cricket Academy entered the Welsh Colleges Cricket 24s competition for the first time and won
- Electrical Installation learner Kaiden Ashun won the Welsh heats of the SPARKS Electrical Apprentice of the Year competition
- Auto student Will Davies was crowned Ford Panel Apprentice of the Year
- Seven students went to the WorldSkills UK Finals and they came back either highly commended or with a medal – Morgan McNeil won silver and Scott Roberts won bronze in the Network Systems Administrator competition
- CAVC Netball Academy students were selected to play for Wales, Superleague team Celtic Dragons and Cardiff and Vale County
- Cultural Heritage Apprentice Esta Lewis won the Tomorrow’s Talent Award at the Apprenticeship Awards Cymru
2018/2019
College Awards
- CAVC became the first Microsoft Showcase College in Wales
- Cardiff and Vale College was awarded the Matrix Quality Standard Award for whole college provision – a first for Further Education colleges in Wales
- The College was ranked 15th in the National Centre for Diversity’s UK Top 100 Index 2018, moving up for its position as 23rd in the previous year
- CAVC Head of Netball, Kyra Jones, was selected to represent Wales at the Commonwealth Games
- The College was presented with a UK-wide Beacon Award for its pioneering Junior Apprenticeship programme which offers more vocational career routes to 14 to 16-year-olds at a special event in the Senedd
- Cardiff and Vale College was awarded silver accreditation against the Investors in People Standard, demonstrating our commitment to high performance through good people management
- Tracy Bird, Cardiff and Vale College’s Career Ready Manager, was chosen by Career Ready as the Santander Employability Champion 2018 for Wales, the West and Midlands
- The College achieved the Careers Wales Mark, an award designed to recognise a commitment to continuous quality improvement in educational institutions to meet the Welsh Government’s requirements set out in the Careers and World of Work: a framework for 11 to 19-year-olds
Student Awards
- There were more CAVC students in the WorldSkills UK finals than any other Welsh college
- Miri Hughes and Nikolett Kovacs came first and second in the Cowbridge Art Group Annual Student Awards
- Electrical Installation apprentice Tom Lewis competed in the EuroSkills finals in Budapest – and was also selected as part of Team UK for the WorldSkills International Finals in Russia! Recent Cyber Security graduate Kyle Woodward was also selected for Russia
- Learners won 4 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze medals in the Skills Competition Wales Finals
- Charlotte Ward was named Ford Apprentice of the Year for Body Repair and Paint
- CAVC Netball Academy players were selected for Wales, Cardiff and Vale County and selected to compete in Welsh Colleges Sport Netball
- Hospitality student Jasmine Jones flew out to India to compete in the International Young Chef Olympiad
- Level 3 Bakery student Bethan Greenslade won gold in the Skills Competition Wales Advanced Patisserie and Confectionery finals and also won silver in the Welsh International Culinary Championships
- A team of ten Foundation Degree in Film learners came third in the National Association for Managers of Student Services’ annual Film Competition
- Whitney Phillips won the BTEC Award for Child and Social Care Student of the Year in recognition of their achievement in their subject
2017/ 2018
College Awards
- AoC Beacon Award for Transition to Post 16 Education for CAVC's Junior Apprenticeship Programme
- AoC Beacon Award for Effective Delivery of Apprenticeships
- The College retained its Gold Standard from People 1st and become a Centre of Excellence for Food and Beverage Service and Patisserie and Confectionary
- Ranked 15th in the National Centre for Diversity's Top 100 Index
- The Department of ESOL, ABE and Learndirect was awarded a Project Learning Together Award for its work with BT
- Accounting Lecturer Mike Webster won the Life-time Achievement Award from AAT
- Creative Lecturer Kat Keeble-Buckle won an Inspire! Tutor Award
- Public Services Lecturer Tom Jones won VQ Trainer of the Year for the way he champions experimental learning
- Career Ready Manager Tracy Bird was named Career Ready Employability Champion of the Year for Wales, the West and Midlands
- Strength and Conditioning Coach James Martin won the World Powerlifting Championships in the under 90kg category
Student Awards
- Electrical Installation Apprentice Tom Lewis represented Team UK at Euroskills in Budapest
- Tom and his twin brother Connor, also an Electrical Installation Apprentice, will travel to Russia for the WorldSkills Finals in 2019
- In 2018, CAVC sent more learners to the WorldSkills UK Finals than any other Welsh College. James Ackland won silver in Wall and Floor Tiling and Henry Deane and Matuesz Kolacki won bronze in Automotive Refinishing and Cyber Security respectively
- Amy Hoskins (2017), Alex James (2018) and Jasmine Jones (2019) travelled or - in Jasmine's case will travel - to India to represent Wales in the International Young Chef Olympiad
- Anthony Cox won gold in Inclusive Skills Personal Trainer contest at the ALN WorldSkills competition
- Henry Deane won gold in Skills Competition Wales Auto Body and Paint finals while fellow student Oscar Green won silver
- Hannah Needs won gold in Skills Competition Wales Visual Merchandising
- James Ackland won bronze for Wall and Floor Tiling in the 2017 WorldSkills UK Finals
- Camilla Dima won gold in Skills Competition Wales Advanced Face and Beauty Finals - Soraia Sequira Gomes Rabaol won silver
- Sharna Byrne, Dasiy Dimond and Makenzi Webber won silver in an Inclusive Skills Wales Media competition
- Dion Mullins won silver in Skills Competition Wales Hairdressing
- Project SEARCH intern Jade Smith - one of a cohort of interns with Additional Learning Needs that the College places with Cardiff University - was employed full-time by the University
- Level 3 Health and Social Care learner Whitney Phillips won BTEC Learner of the Year in the Children, Health and Social Care Category
- Caroline Turner and Annette Howell won BTEC Learner of the Year
- Level 3 IT student Ellie Perkins is set to represent Wales in the Microsoft Specialist Four Nations Championships
- Foundation Degree in Film students came third in the NAMSS Film Competition 2018
- Level 2 Bricklaying student Sam Ashdown came second in a competition organised by Persimmon Homes and was interviewed for an apprenticeship
- Four learners won CILEx Student of the Year Awards
- Mateusz Kolacki won gold in WorldSkills Cyber Security regional finals, while Kyle Woodward won silver. It was the first time CAVC entered the competition
- Morgan Whithear and Tomek Pawelek won gold and silver respectively in WorldSkills IT Technician
- Fatoumata Makalo won bronze in WorldSkills IT Software Solutions for Business
Shortlisted/nominated
- Three TES Awards - Effective Use of TEL, Vocational Teaching and Learning and Leader of the Year
- CIPD Course Leader Nick Carter was shortlisted in the Best HR Professional - Public/3rd Sector category at the CIPD Awards
- Shortlisted for AoC Beacon Award for Wellbeing
- Public Services Lecturer Tom Jones shortlisted for TES FE Teacher of the Year
- Angela Carreira was shortlisted for CIPD Wales Award
- A Level student Michael Bonney was shortlisted for a UK-wide British Education Award
2016
College Awards
- Welsh Further Education Provider of the Year - National Centre for Diversity
- College of the Year - Wales Insider Business and Education Partnership Awards
- Economic Impact - Wales Insider Business and Education Partnership Awards
- Design Through Innovation - RICS
- Funded Training Provider of the Year - Contact Centre Supplier Awards
- Welsh Architecture Award for the City Centre Campus - Royal Society of Architects in Wales
Student Awards
- Nadia Hadjali, UK Hairdressing Student of the Year - Hairdressing Council
- Lauretta Hughes, Agored Cymru Access to Higher Education Student of the Year
- Danielle Halford, Sir Winfried Bischoff UK Career Ready Student of the Year
Shortlisted/nominated
- AoC Beacon Award - Practical Teaching and Practical Learning
- James Donaldson, FE Employee of the Year - National Centre for Diversity
- FE College of the Year - TES Further Education Awards
- Wales Insider Business and Partnership Awards - New Process, People Development, and the Partnership Award
- Best Advertising Campaign - Wales/Cymru Marketing Awards
- Training Provider of the Year - Creative and Cultural Skills Awards
