Six more colleges and two training organisations were this week selected to lead the fight to drive up standards in further education by being awarded beacon status.
It brings the number of institutions with Beacon Status to 71.
Phil Hope, the skills minister, warned them to expect a call next year from the new Quality Improvement Agency which begins operating from April.
He said at a ceremony in Westminster: “You will be asked to share what you have proved to be a good way of working. The QIA will commission and fund you to help all providers to improve.
He presented awards to three general FE colleges: City and Islington; Tower Hamlets (both London) and Liverpool community, and two sixth-form colleges, Esher in Surrey, and Pendleton in Salford, Greater Manchester.
The Royal National College for the Blind, the British Gas Engineering Academy and Four Counties Training were the other three recipients. All eight were rated outstanding by inspectors in the last academic year.
