The Manchester College receives prestigious Princess Royal Training Award

The Manchester College has been awarded the prestigious Princess Royal Training Award, recognising the positive impact that our bespoke and ambitious ‘Leadership of Learning’ internal staff training programme has had in developing the next generation of leaders in the further education sector. 

The Leadership of Learning programme was developed by managers, for managers, to raise teaching standards and embed a culture of high-performance leadership. Co-designed with FE Associates and Xenonex, the initiative has improved collaboration, boosted confidence and reduced staff turnover. What’s more, just under half of all participants have received a promotion so far. 

Now, in recognition of the programme, our College is one of 57 recipients of the 2025 Princess Royal Training Awards announced by City & Guilds. The awards honour organisations that demonstrate outstanding commitment to learning and development, and highlight the tangible impact of exceptional training on both businesses and individuals. 

Principal Rachel Curry commented: “I am thrilled that we have received a Princess Royal Training Award for our innovative Leadership of Learning programme.  

“This well-deserved recognition is testament to the ambition of the College’s Quality and Senior Leadership teams who recognised that empowering our managers with the right skills, resources and confidence enabled them to focus on students and on their colleagues.

We feel incredibly proud and are fortunate to have such a talented team of managers who strive to create the best environment for our students to succeed.

We are the only further education college in England to be recognised in 2025, a milestone year which sees the awards’ 10th anniversary coincide with HRH The Princess Royal’s 75th birthday. Other 2025 recipients include Deloitte, IBM and Nationwide. 

Rachel added: “Across two cohorts, around 80 of our middle managers have taken part in the programme and the feedback has been glowing. We look forward to progressing the programme in the years to come, to further develop our leaders of the future.” 

Applying for the Princess Royal Training Award involved a rigorous and detailed process that demanded tangible evidence of impact, built around three criterion-based hallmarks. A 1500-word submission with supporting evidence was followed by a ‘virtual visit’ from the awarding Assessor Team. Around 20 delegates, their managers and senior leaders were all interviewed and gave evidence to the team, before the final report was submitted to HRH The Princess Royal to approve the Awards. 

Representatives from our College will be formally presented at a celebration ceremony in London on 2 December 2025. 

For a full list of this year’s recipients and their training programmes please see the 2025 recipients page or find out how to apply for The Princess Royal Training Awards 2026 here.