Strategic Plan 2026-2030

BUILDING CAREERS OF TOMORROW STRATEGIC PLAN 2026 - 2030

INTRODUCTION Our Strategic Plan: 2026–2030 We’re thrilled to share with you our new Strategic Plan, Building Careers of Tomorrow: 2026-2030. This document is our collective commitment to an ambitious and transformative future, ensuring we continue to deliver on our vision of empowering students with life-enhancing opportunities. We are singularly focussed on our students achieving great employment and progression outcomes.

We are already in a position of immense strength. BCoT is recognised as a sector leader, from our high-quality technical training and impressive student achievement rates, to our status as one of the UK’s leading colleges for digital technology and AI integration. The foundation of this success is, without a doubt, our dedicated staff.

With 97% of staff feeling “Proud to be a member of staff at BCoT,” it is clear that our culture, guided by our values: Brilliant, Caring, Open, Team - is our greatest asset.

This strategic plan focuses on five core priorities that will ensure sustained growth and quality over the next five years. We are committed to developing a future-ready curriculum, proactively identifying and addressing critical skills gaps, and embracing curriculum reforms to give our students the best opportunities available.

We are doubling down on our investment in people, with the aim of making BCoT the best place to work in Basingstoke. This means prioritising staff training, streamlining our processes with the aid of AI and upgrading our benefits package.

We will also increase our campus capacity to meet the rising demand from young people, ensuring every student benefits from an outstanding learning environment. Our ultimate success rests on maximising our impact, closing all achievement gaps and celebrating our students’ positive destinations to make BCoT the firstchoice provider for technical education.

2 I Strategic Plan 2026–2030

Our Mission Building Careers of Tomorrow Our Vision Empowering students with life enhancing opportunities Our Ethos A caring and safe environment for students to learn and develop Our Student Values Ready, Respectful, Safe Our Staff Values Brilliant, Caring, Open, Team

OUR PRIORITIES We have set ourselves challenging targets that demonstrate our commitment to making BCoT the best Further Education college in the country.

The plan focuses on five key areas:

1

Expanding our curriculum: We will align courses with regional needs by adapting vocational training for direct employment. This includes expanding construction into renewable technologies and growing our higher-level apprenticeship and employer training offer as a debt-free alternative to higher education.

2

Continuous quality improvement: Building on our recent Ofsted

3

Workforce development: Everything we do is guided by our new values

4

Celebrating our work: We will extensively publicise our students’ positive

5

Increasing our student numbers: To accommodate the anticipated rise

success, we will emphasise high-quality teaching, strengthen links with local businesses and employers, and expand student support services.

- Brilliant, Caring, Open and Team. Our goal is to be the "best place to work" in Basingstoke by prioritising staff training and upskilling, revamping the professional review process, and upgrading our benefits package.

outcomes and seek national recognition to establish BCoT as the first-choice provider for high-quality, work-focused technical education.

in school leavers, we will adapt our campus facilities and maintain a highstandard learning environment

Strategic Plan 2026–2030 I 3

1. Expanding our curriculum Our course offering is designed to enable progression into employment, an apprenticeship or higher-level learning. As new qualifications become available we will adopt those that are best suited to our learners and the region’s skills needs.

We will strategically offer T Levels in key priority sectors where they best serve local needs and learner interests, ensuring they are integrated seamlessly into our wider Level 3 offer alongside updated qualifications. Our focus remains on delivering a cohesive curriculum across all vocational levels that provides direct routes into work.

We will work proactively with employers to utilise the new flexibilities created by the Growth and Skills Levy, co-designing programmes that specifically address identified skills gaps.

We will expand our construction course offer to provide more training opportunities in renewable technologies and deliver the skills needed for our region’s house building programme.

There is a growing demand from young people requiring foundation level learning and higher levels of support which the college will create the capacity to accommodate. This could include off-site provision and delivery by other entities within the existing BCoT Group or expansion of the Group.

We will consider the targeted introduction of a limited range of A levels to be offered as part of a mixed study programme, particularly where they complement technical pathways and enhance progression opportunities.

We will respond to the government’s new priorities for delivery of adult skills training and implementation of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement.

4 I Strategic Plan 2026–2030

2. Continuous quality improvement We will build upon Ofsted’s most recent judgement which identified much of what we do to be outstanding.

We will inspire young people and adults by providing the highest quality of teaching and learning.

A priority is to identify and eliminate the disparities in the participation and attainment of students from disadvantaged and under-represented groups, for example, the diversity of students participating in courses critical to the regional economy.

We will expand further the number and range of employers we work with. Our curriculum departments have developed deep links with local businesses which we will continue to strengthen in line with our unremitting focus on skills development and employment.

We take pride in the support we provide to our students to help them achieve their aims. We will expand our learner support services to ensure we are prepared and able to meet the growing numbers and increasingly complex learning support needs in the future.

Strategic Plan 2026–2030 I 5

3. Workforce development We will make BCoT the best place to work in Basingstoke and the best FE College in the country.

Monitor and evaluate actions Actions to address shortages, surpluses or skill mismatches

Understand the organisation and its environment

Workforce planning process

Identify workforce gaps against future needs

Focus on training and upskilling our workforce

Analyse the current and potential workforce

Determine future workforce needs

Revamp the professional review and development process

Embed our values fully throughout the college

Cut out unnecessary meetings and work tasks, aided by the use of AI

Communicate clearly and in a timely manner

Upgrade our benefits package

The college will see changes to its leadership team as existing members retire. We will ensure a smooth and seamless transition, with an assured continued commitment to our core values and mission.

6 I Strategic Plan 2026–2030

4. Celebrating our work We will work tirelessly to promote the value and purpose of technical skills training and the benefits it can bring to young people, adults and business.

We will emphasise the positive destinations of our students and we will further develop our alumni network.

We will seek national recognition for our work and publicise this extensively.

We want BCoT to be the number one choice for high quality, work-focused, supportive education and training.

Strategic Plan 2026–2030 I 7

5. Increasing our student numbers We expect our 16-19 aged student numbers to increase over the next few years as there is an increase in the number of young people leaving secondary school and a higher proportion of young people choose to study at BCoT. Basingstoke secondary school leaver numbers: YEAR

PUPIL NUMBERS

% CHANGE

2024

1,587

2025

1,682

+6.0%

2026

1,770

+5.2%

2027

1,867

+5.5%

2028

1,960

+5.0%

2029

1,900

-3.1%

We must adapt our campus facilities to accommodate this rising demand, ensuring that we use our estate efficiently and that our learning environment is maintained at a high standard.

8 I Strategic Plan 2026–2030

BUILDING ON OUR STRENGTHS BCoT is already a great place to study and work. This strategic plan builds on our many existing strengths of which we are proud and include:

• Our comprehensive range of technical training

• Our unwavering commitment to equality of

• The highest achievement rates for 16-18 aged

• Our excellent facilities and outstanding financial

• The excellent outcomes our students achieve after

• Our highly skilled and committed workforce who

courses that are continually reviewed and adapted to ensure relevance in the workplace.

students in Further Education in Hampshire.

leaving college, with more than 90% of our students progressing either in work, an apprenticeship or continued study at a higher level.

• The national recognition we receive for our use of technology in teaching and learning.

• Our contracts with local and national businesses who recognise the benefits of working with BCoT and made us their first-choice training provider.

• The support we provide to our students from

disadvantaged backgrounds and those who have learning difficulties.

opportunity for everyone. We are on a mission to close all achievement gaps.

position.

are valued and rewarded for the contribution they make.

• The high levels of praise and appreciation we

receive from our students and our growing alumni network.

• Our governing body, formed largely of past and

present high achievers in business, who ensure the college remains focussed on its purpose and the experience of our students.

• Our commitment to continuous improvement.

Strategic Plan 2026–2030 I 9

OUR CURRICULUM Our Accountability Statement sets out our curriculum intent, the courses we offer and how we meet the demand for skills in our region.

It is a separate document that is updated annually. The 2025-26 statement is available here: Accountability Statement 2025-26.pdf.

Subsequent statements will be published on the college website in July each year.

We will ensure we are responsive when opportunities are presented through government initiatives that are germane to our mission. However, we must critically assess each initiative and be willing to reject those that are judged not to be impactful or better done by others.

10 I Strategic Plan 2026–2030

WHAT WE NEED TO MAXIMISE OUR IMPACT BCoT is a key part of a wider training and skills ecosystem and for us to make the most impact we have identified the following constraints and risks to the delivery of our plans: Better funding of apprenticeships and adult retraining programmes. Regrettably, some courses are simply not viable for us to run at the current funding levels, reducing the range of opportunities available for people to train and then join the region’s workforce.

Flexibility from the Department of Education around the curriculum we can offer so that we can meet the diverse training needs in our region.

Better coordination of post-16 education between the various providers in the borough and an end to wasteful duplication.

Universities to lower their fee requirements for degree apprenticeships to make them financially viable for the college to deliver.

Support and active engagement by large employers in the construction industry to train young people and retrain adults to work and contribute to the massive housebuilding programme planned for the Borough.

with cross-boundary restrictions and reprioritisation of funding away from our region.

Employers to support students by allowing them to complete their course before starting employment.

We want all our students to achieve their qualifications because we know they will stand them in good stead for the future.

A rationalisation of post-16 providers to provide greater opportunities for both young people and adults to participate and make it easier for businesses to engage with the further education sector.

Capital funding to invest in the college estate, ensuring it remains a high-quality learning environment that is progressively moving towards the achievement of net zero carbon emissions.

Local government reorganisation must deliver a coherent funding and political landscape in which the college and its students can thrive. A worst-case outcome would be the creation of a post code lottery,

Strategic Plan 2026–2030 I 11

01256 354141 | bcot.ac.uk | reception@bcot.ac.uk @bcot BasingstokeCollegeofTechnology basingstoke–college–of–technology BasingstokeCollegeofTechnology instabcot

Basingstoke College of Technology Worting Road Basingstoke Hampshire RG21 8TN