A note from the Principal

WQE is a welcoming, open-minded College and we are passionate about our students, as well as ambitious for them and positive about the future. We are dedicated to maximising our students’ academic achievements, and most importantly we are committed to preparing them well for a successful future as young professionals.

After GCSEs, many students are ready for a new challenge, with new opportunities for personal growth. By coming to WQE, they are indicating that they want to challenge themselves, learn in a different way, to discover more about who they are and how to get the best out of themselves.

This all takes place in an environment where curiosity is encouraged, and commitment is recognised and valued. These are important aspects of the WQE experience and the community we strive to create. It’s about feeling part of a bigger world; being a student rather than a pupil. It’s about sharing that feeling with lots of other young people with similar aspirations and having the supportive space to develop and grow as a person.

WQE is an academic community with an incredible breadth of choice and, through our passionate and dedicated teaching, our students become empowered and confident enough to explore and to discover just what they are capable of, and just how much they can achieve. Consequently, we have a long-established record of success.

We recognise that academic achievement is fundamental to any successful educational experience and eventual progression. Examination results are important criteria that students, parents and carers consider when making decisions about post-16 study and we are proud to help our students achieve consistently well. Students typically undertake full-time and demanding programmes, with exceptionally high proportions completing their programmes and gaining progression into higher levels of study and opening doors to professional careers.

We are particularly pleased that we have been able to maintain the highest standards while at the same time welcoming and helping students to access our provision and gain the benefits of studying in the ambitious environment here at WQE. Students join us from schools across the city, the county and beyond, creating a diverse and vibrant community, which includes many who are supported to overcome circumstances or contexts that without support may have impacted learning and success.

There is a very strong sense of camaraderie among our students; the College is hugely welcoming and sociable, where people from different cultures, faiths and backgrounds get to learn and socialise together daily – creating a strong sense of togetherness and community.

We greatly cherish our students’ drive, energy and enterprise, as well as their consideration for others. We encourage them to be curious, to develop their own ideas, including to challenge us as we challenge them, and to show initiative, character and innovation.

Our mission is to prepare them as young professionals for the future, and it is no coincidence that WQE students come across as confident, self-reliant, mature young adults, with a sense of common venture, an attitude to succeed and with high aspirations.