The United Colleges Group have been officially accredited as Investors in Diversity.

Awarded following assessment by the National Centre for Diversity, the accreditation is recognised as a national standard for equality across business, education, and the third sector.

The prestigious award is only given to businesses, institutions, schools, and charities that live up to the centre’s standards for promoting Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion, and Engagement (FREDIE) in their work.

In its report, the National Centre for Diversity noted that, “UCG sends out clear and strong messages about equality and diversity. Leaders are confident about the messages and act as positive role models.”

It also praised the UCG approach which has inclusion as a key value.

Further, the report observes that, “Overall, UCG has provided robust evidence of good performance against the Investors in Diversity destinations”

The Investors in Diversity award recognises work done by UCG using a framework that allows winners to place equity at the heart of what they do.

Organisations that receive the accreditation routinely report such benefits as reduced staff grievances, increased staff development, better customer services, and an overall improvement in culture, attitudes, behaviours, and conduct.

The United Colleges Group, made up of College of North West London and City of Westminster College, is proud to have been given this important accolade and commits itself to the values that the award represents.

Stephen Davis, Group Principal and CEO of the United Colleges Group, said:

“At the United Colleges Group, we are proud to put the values of the National Centre for Diversity into practice each and every day.

“We understand that it is the diversity of our college community that makes us an attractive destination for people from a huge variety of backgrounds to work and study with.

“I would like to thank the National Centre for Diversity for this award and say that we look forward to continuing to work with them to promote our shared values.”

NCFD Advisor Maxine Davis said:

“I am confident that with the enthusiastic leadership of Stephen Davis, UCG will maintain its drive to become an EDI exemplar and find creative ways to improve the representation of BME staff at the senior management level”

Director of People and Communications, Claire Collins, added:

“Creating a diverse and welcoming place for our staff and students to live, work, and study is incredibly important to us and to have our efforts recognised in this way is wonderful.

“The National Centre Diversity’s Investors in Diversity accreditation is rightly seen as a national standard for equality and we are proud to be among the institutions who have received it. “We will continue to put fairness, equality, and inclusion at the heart of everything we do both now and in the future.”