Our Partners

We are proud to have The Open University (OU) as our validating partner. The Open University was founded by Royal Charter in 1969. It has an international reputation for the quality of its teaching by supported open learning, for its research and for offering a university education to many students who would not otherwise have had the opportunity to study. The OU’s mission can be summarised thus: The Open University is open to people, places, methods and ideas. 

Institutional approval and OU validated awards are conferred under the OU’s Royal Charter. They are of comparable standard to those made to students directly registered with the OU and other UK universities. The Open University validates our foundation degrees and BA Honours degrees.

Programmes/modules in our Foundation Degree and BA Hons Degree subject(s) have been developed and will be delivered by York College University Centre. They have been validated through a process of external peer review by The Open University as being of an appropriate standard and quality to lead to The Open University validated awards of:

BA (Hons) programmes in 3D Creative Practice; Film Production & Professional Practice; Fashion Design & Garment Technology; Graphic Communication & Design; Leading Children’s Development & Learning (Top-up), Media Make-up, Special Effects & Hair Design (Top-up)

Foundation Degree programmes in Leading Children’s Development & Learning and Media Make-up, Special Effects & Hair Design

Pearson is the world’s leading learning company, with 35,000 employees in more than 70 countries working to help people of all ages to make measurable progress in their lives through education. They put the learner at the centre of everything they do, because wherever learning flourishes, so do people. Pearson are the chosen validation for our Higher National Certificate and Higher National Diploma qualifications.

Vocational Training Charitable Trust (VTCT) is a specialist awarding and assessment organisation offering vocational and technical qualifications in a range of service sectors.

Once named in the Times Higher Education Awards as the University of the Year, the University of Huddersfield now hosts around 20,000 students at its campus in central Huddersfield. York College is pleased to be a member of the University’s Education and Training Consortium. The Consortium is a unique partnership of further and higher education providers recognised across the UK. Our teacher training (CertEd/PGCE) students benefit from this award-winning university’s resources, experience and long-established reputation as national leaders in the field of teacher education for the lifelong learning sector. University of Huddersfield validate our PGCE and Cert.Ed teaching qualifications.

Skills & Education Group Awards offer qualifications and assessments which are regulated by CCEA, Ofqual and Qualifications Wales. Our Counselling courses are validated by Skills & Education Group Awards.

Further widening participation activities are facilitated through membership of the Higher York Consortium. As a founder member of the Higher York, the College has actively led and contributed to the range of initiatives. The College, alongside other partners, has indicated a commitment to the sustainability of Higher York following the end of the HEFCE funding period. This currently involves a financial contribution as well as significant in-kind contributions from a range of staff who contribute to the management and leadership, and collaborative work of the partnership.

Activities include bespoke university visits and visits to schools by FE and HE institutions. This has recently been extended to include the creation of a single point of contact for information, advice and guidance about progression into higher education and outreach opportunities as part of the Higher York Network for Collaborative Outreach. Higher York also produces a specific ‘Mature Students’ Guide to Higher Education’ and links with a range of local employers.

The College has also been an active partner in the Roots to Success project since its inception in 1998. The project engages with schools and colleges to support students whose families have not traditionally moved into FE and HE. This work is now embedded within the College and continues to develop through networking and sharing of good practice to benefit students’ opportunities to move into further and higher education in all education institutions in York.