The College Merthyr Tydfil is, today, celebrating after receiving the prestigious Princess Royal Training Award. 

The College is one of 43 workplace learning programmes have been commended by the 2020 Princess Royal Training Awards but is the only FE College in the UK to receive this accolade. 

Now in its fifth year, the Princess Royal Training Awards recognise employers across the United Kingdom with outstanding training and development programmes that have had a direct impact on business performance. 2020 winners demonstrated exceptional commitment to training, despite facing unprecedented challenges of Covid-19.

The College has received the award in recognition of its outstanding commitment to staff development through its OLEVI Outstanding Teacher Programme and Continuing Teacher Programme. Through the development of these programmes, the college has experienced a significant increase in staff morale and retention, which in turn have led to increased student recruitment and year on year increases in success rates and outcomes. All of this has contributed positively to the college's profile and reputation both locally, regionally and nationally. As testament to this, the college was recently shortlisted for the Times Further Education College of the Year Award 2020 and has just received its best ever A level and vocational results. 

Organisations that have met the standard in 2020 differ in size and sector. From Willis Tower Watson, Co-op and Royal Mail Group through to smaller organisations such as Gateway Community Ltd, Springhill Hospice and Umbrella Training and Employment Solutions Ltd. Of the 39 organisations awarded, four will receive Awards for two separate training programmes: Covance Laboratories Limited; Exponential-e; HMRC and Serco Group.

For the full list of recipients and their training programmes, please see the 2020 recipients page.