Printer friendly page

Award recognises college's safety commitment

A Young Driver Academy , which was held at the Ebbw Vale campus of Coleg Gwent during the summer, was acclaimed at the recent Wales Road Safety Awards.

Two years ago staff at Coleg Gwent developed a summer school programme for students who had recently finished their GCSE's. They were keen to include a road safety aspect to the programme and developed the Young Driver Academy in partnership with the local RSO and driving instructors.

The course ran for two days a week throughout the summer to prepare students for the theory and practical driving tests. Approximately 175 students took part in the summer school and have gained Open College Network Credits (OCNC).

"There should always be a place for pre driver training," said Alan Jones , chairman of the Gwent Driving Instructors Association. "We were fortunate to have access to the college IT suite where the students could learn about the theory and hazard perception tests using the latest CDs. We also used a PowerPoint presentation that had similar elements to the Driver Improvement Scheme (DIS)."

For further information contact Penny Thorpe at Capita Symonds on 01633 463376, or penny.thorpe@capita.co.uk