EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION (EDI)

As the communities which we seek to serve change and grow, so Stow College's response has evolved.

We have clear procedures to ensure that no applicant receives less favourable treatment on grounds of their race, religion, colour, nationality, ethnicity, sex or sexual orientation, marital status, disability or their age, or faces barriers to access which cannot be shown to be justified.

The College now has in place a new 'Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' (EDI) policy which commits us to ensuring the active involvement of representatives from a wide range of groups and interests.

What will this all mean in practice? Things are evolving all the time and new initiatives and projects to carry forward our EDI commitment are emerging constantly.

We won't just look inwards, we have already begun to form new relationships within the FE sector and beyond to try to identify good ideas and good practice which will help us make progress and to share our good practice with others.

However we do know that we will:

• Take account of prospective learners and their needs from across all our communities and seek to design programmes and learning opportunities which will match them;
• Provide as far as is possible supportive and encouraging learning environments which will lift the barriers to learning experienced by so many;
• Be accessible, welcoming and helpful to current and prospective learners;
• Provide information to prospective learners, enrolled students and other agencies about our curriculum and support services and opportunities for progression to employment or further study.