Following a glittering ceremony at Cornwall College for this years Award, OCR has announced its sponsorship of the 2008/09 AoC Beacon Awards.

Cornwall College was chosen as the winner for the OCR Award for Partnerships in Basic Skills due to its outstanding contribution to Further Education in partnership with the WILD Young Parents Project.

WILD aims to provide young parents and their children with opportunities to develop their skills, improve self esteem, make positive and healthy choices, participate as equal members of their communities and achieve their full potential.

John Latham, Principal of Cornwall College said: "The presentation of this award is the latest national recognition of the excellence of education at Cornwall College. As a Beacon winner, we are proud to be named as a role model for other colleges to look to for inspiration, guidance and encouragement."

For 2008/09, OCR is sponsoring the OCR Award for Functional Skills. The Award is open to all further education colleges in the UK that are delivering functional skills in English, Mathematics or ICT.

The Award seeks to identify innovative examples of functional skills delivery through an approach that embeds functional skills across the curriculum. Entrants should be creative in identifying and providing opportunities, which lead not only to the engagement of individuals but also contributes to their continued progression.

OCR is currently taking part in the nationwide functional skills pilot. With the first year of the pilot scheme now well under way, functional skills are already helping learners get the most out of work, education and everyday life. Year two will begin in September 2008 and centres are being invited now to get involved. The pilot allows centres to have their say in the future development of these important new qualifications. To take part in the pilot email, functionalskills@ocr.org.uk

The closing date for applications for the 2008/09 Association of Colleges Beacon Awards is July 23rd 2008.