Bridgend College Annual Equality Report 2026

Relating to data from 2024-2025 Academic Year

Foreword from the Principal

Our mission is simple – be all that you can be. Be you.

Bridgend College is a special place to learn and work. We want to create an inclusive environment which enables people to be innovative and passionate about what they do. We want to create inspirational opportunities which transform lives and celebrate the successes of every individual. We are committed to making decisions which are ethical and people-centred, for every person and in every interaction.

 We know that the standards we walk past are the standards we accept, so by being a team player who is committed to our organisational values, we can ensure that everyone is ready to learn and work in an environment where they are respected and feel safe, to be all that they can be.

About Bridgend College

Bridgend College is a Further Education (FE) College which supports in excess of 7,000 full and part-time learners, and employs around 700 members of staff across two campuses at Bridgend and Pencoed, with delivery and community outreach delivered across the county borough. In 2023-24, the College had income of £37.3 million. Engage Business Wales Limited (trading as Engage Training) and Bevan College are fully owned subsidiary companies of Bridgend College. 

Bridgend is situated equidistant between Cardiff, the Welsh Capital, and the city of Swansea; both cities have ambitious city deals and regionalisation plans along the M4 corridor, presenting exciting opportunities for the college and our future aspirations. 

The County Borough of Bridgend sits at the heart of South Wales and has a population of 145,500 [+4.5% on 2001 Census]. with 9.2% of those living within the county borough speaking Welsh and 22.3% having a disability [Census, 2021]. 67.1% of the population were in employment – 4.8% lower than average for Wales, with the sixth-highest unemployment rate across the 22 local authority areas in Wales (December 2023, ONS Annual Population Survey). Economic inactivity (those not employed but do not meet the criteria for unemployed) in Bridgend rose to 30.6% in the year ending December 2023. This is 7.6% higher than across Wales and 9.4% higher than across the UK. Wholesale, Retail, Transport, Hotels and Food Industries account for 26% of employment within the borough. In 2023, there were 4085 active businesses, with the large majority of these being micro and small enterprises (10-49 employees) IONS Inter-Departmental Business Register, 2023), with the College being one of only 10 large employers (250+ employees).

The Law

The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. It sets out the different ways in which it’s unlawful to treat someone. For further information on the Equality Act 2010, how public bodies are required to have due regard, and Bridgend College’s specific duties under the Act, please see the following link.  Although we have a legal duty to make sure that we employ people and provide services in a safe and fair way, we endeavour to do more.

Data Collection

The College collects data from staff, students and surveys of both groups. Staff are encouraged biannually to update their sensitive data on the HR self-service system. We have a number of staff who have not declared their sensitive data, although this is decreasing year on year. All staff are regularly sent reminders about the importance of collecting this data and how it will be used, in order to help us develop meaningful action plans, strategies and policies to ensure that everyone can be at their best at Bridgend College. 

Awards and Recognition

Over the last few years, we have won some prestigious awards and are so proud of everything we do here for our students and staff. Here is a list of awards and accolades we have recently been awarded: 

• Finalist for the Community Project of the Year Award, in the British Diversity Awards (2026)
• Winner: ‘Safeguarding Initiative’ Award (2025): Awarded by the Safeguarding and Child Protection Association (Sacpa). This recognised the College’s innovative Student Mental Health Safety Plan, which empowers students to take ownership of their mental health through a collaborative, student-centered approach;
• Shortlisted for the Diverse Company Award in the National Diversity Awards 2024 – the only education provider shortlisted in any category (2024) 
• Placed 44th in the Inclusive Companies Top 50 UK Employers (2024) 
• Mind’s Workplace Wellbeing Index 2023/24 Gold Award (4 years running)
• Inclusive Culture Initiative Award (2023): Recognized at the Inclusive Awards for our ‘Be You’ video campaign, which highlighted staff stories of belonging to foster an inclusive culture for students
• Disability Confident Leader (5 years running)

The bedrock of this success has been the positive culture of the College. Our mission is to ‘Be All That You Can Be’ – and we really mean it. We believe that every person has a chance to be the best they can be for themselves and the best they can be for others in an environment where diversity is celebrated.

Our Staff 

Number of people by gender

There has been a very slight increase (+0.82%) in male staff percentage from 29.81% to 30.63%, however our staffing profile remains consistently at two-thirds female.

We continue to track protected characteristics of staff moving into new and higher paid positions, so we can identify any gaps or barriers for all genders. For the academic year 2024-25, 76.9% of staff who progressed were female and 51.4% of total progressions were new roles with a salary increase;  compared to 82.1% and 56.5% in 2023-24.

As we are within the fourth consecutive year of monitoring this data, we will be able to make comparisons against previous years to ensure that the work we are doing around inclusion and promoting development is having an impact. It is encouraging to see that for the third year running, female staff have a high progression rate, suggesting that the meaningful initiatives to support progression are having a positive impact. We will continue to actively engage with staff to understand what barriers they perceive there are to moving into higher-paid roles (if any) and ensure all staff have access to CPD to support their progression, for example, via our Aspiring Leaders Programme. We are actively focussing on closing the gender pay gap and more information on gender is available in Bridgend College’s Pay Gap report.

We also continue to review and compile job descriptions and adverts that use inclusive and gender-neutral language, to eliminate any gender bias. We will continue to implement best practice initiatives as suggested by the Government’s Equality Office report and we are committed to nurturing an environment where everyone can reach their full potential. 

Number of people by age

From 2023/24 to 2024/25, the age groups have changed in the following way:

Almost half of our workforce; 48.5%, (which is a slight decrease from 48.96% in 2023-24) are aged 46 and over, with the highest percentage difference being in the age category 61-65 (+1.35%) suggesting that we continue to have an aging workforce. We continue to provide a wide range of services to support staff of all ages, and in particular have tailored specific support for an aging workforce such as promotion of planning for retirement pension courses and webinars, DSE assessments, menopause support, Will Aid, and retire and return opportunities. We have also extended our Carer’s support provision during the past academic year to include Carer’s Cafe, a Carer’s support pack, and a Carer’s passport, to enable a carer and their manager to hold a supportive conversation and document the flexibilities needed to support the carer in combining care and work. This is to recognise that an increasing number of staff have requested support whilst caring for elderly relatives.

Number of people by age band and gender

A significant proportion of our workforce are females in the 36-60 age group. We continue to uphold our Menopause Statement of Intent which was produced in 2021 and refreshed in 2024 to reaffirm our commitment to providing an inclusive and supportive working environment with recognition that those experiencing the menopause, whether before, during or after this time of hormonal change and associated symptoms, may need additional consideration, support and adjustments.

We also hold Menopause Cafe sessions which are staff led, enabling them to drive the agenda, with open conversations allowing us to identify needs. We also have a specialist ‘Menopause Toolkit’ with a wide range of resources for staff to use including British Menopause Society [BMS] factsheets, information and support for Andropause [the male menopause], and menopause checklists. We also provide various webinars and support sessions run by specialist experts to provide further advice, guidance and support for those who may wish to access it. 

We also continue to support staff to work more agilely, so a better work life balance can be maintained to support wellbeing and caring responsibilities.

Number of people by ethnicity

The number of staff identifying as Global Majority (Black, Asian, mixed and other ethnic groups) has increased to 2.87% from 2.55% in 2023/24, which shows a modest but consistent improvement in developing a more diverse workforce (2.3% in 2022/23, 1.98% in 2020/21 and 1.32% in 2019/20). 

In addition, our non-response rate has reduced significantly, to 2.87% which is a decrease of 6.57% over three years (9.44% in 2021/22, 4.0% in 2022/23 and 3.3% in 2023/24). This suggests that the confidence and trust staff have in terms of how their data will be used continues to improve.

For context, 3.2% (Census, 2021) of the Bridgend population classify themselves as Global Majority. At Bridgend College we aim to become more representative of the community we serve, due to the myriad of benefits in which a more diverse workforce brings. This features in our Strategic Equity Plan, namely to attract, retain and engage a diverse population of staff and learners, utilising expert advice and guidance.

Anti-racism

Anti-racism is a key aspect of our ongoing work within Equity, Diversity and inclusion, and features strongly in our Strategic Equity Plan, alongside our Anti-Racism Action Plan. In addition to our continued commitment to the Zero Racism pledge we signed in 2020, we have significantly advanced our commitment to anti-racist practice, and have gained momentum by continuing to engage and collaborate with the Black Leadership Group to build an anti-racist culture. Our anti-racism action plan outlines our ambitions and goals, and is continuously reviewed by our Senior Leadership Team and EDI Steering Group. The Government has clear expectations of the contribution FE Colleges will make to achieving an anti-racist education sector that enables all individuals to thrive and achieve their full potential, and we are committed to playing our part in tackling systemic racism through a comprehensive, rigorous approach to anti-racist practice that leads to institutional and structural change.

Disability

Number of people by disability

16.25% of our workforce has declared a disability which is an increase of 1.86% in disability declarations since 2023/24.

The non-disclosure rate has significantly reduced, to 4.87%, a decrease of 15.88% over two years. This suggests that the confidence and trust staff have in terms of how their data will be used in relation to the provision of support at work is increasing, enabling all staff to ‘be all that they can be’.

Labour Market Statistics indicate that the employment rate for disabled people in Wales was 52% in the year ending June 2025, compared to a rate of 81.3% for non-disabled people, giving a disability employment gap of 29.3%, a slight decrease from 30.7% in 2024. We continue to implement a guaranteed interview scheme as part of our Disability Confident Leader commitment, to encourage disabled people to apply for jobs with us, and to provide opportunities to show their skills, talent and abilities at the interview stage. Bridgend College also supports the delivery of the Welsh Government’s Disabled People’s Rights Plan, specifically actions relating to employment.

Creating an environment where every individual feels valued and heard is front and centre of our new strategic plan. There continues to be significant work undertaken in this area to support staff to both share their sensitive data and to be assured that they will be assisted with support and reasonable adjustments.

The increased understanding by staff has been enhanced by our Disability Confident Leader status and continued implementation of the Guaranteed Interview Scheme.  We are committed to renewing our Leader status in November 2026 which will involve a re-assessment process. As part of this, we will ensure the voices of our staff are heard, by inviting staff with disabilities from across the organisation to validate our self-assessment. Contribution from staff with lived experiences will enable us to both evidence the work we are doing in the college to support our staff with disabilities, and also help us to identify areas for further improvement. This work and renewal as a Leader will enable us to continue to create and sustain a culture where our employees with disabilities feel that they are being truly supported and feel that they can thrive. 

In 2024/25 we continued to promote and embed our Wellbeing at Work passport, following its launch in 2022. We are encouraged that staff who have completed a passport feel that it has helped to support them in the workplace. We continue to reach out to staff that have declared long term health conditions or disabilities to encourage utilisation of the passport to enable a culture of support. The aim of the passport is to help support new and existing staff with their disability and/or health condition, identify reasonable adjustments and support with general well-being. 

We publish an annual Inclusion calendar and a Wellbeing calendar to raise awareness and understanding, and celebrate events such as Purple Tuesday, Disability History Month and Black History Month. Our employee intranet ‘Happeo’, launched in 2024 serves as a platform to share information and provide regular updates on how physical and mental wellbeing can be supported by managers, the HR team, the Staff Wellbeing Officer and various support services we offer.

In addition, our UCU Cymru Union Wellbeing Reps, who have completed Mental Health First Aid training continue to support our staff to spot the symptoms of mental health issues, offer initial help and guide people towards support.  In addition, we have over seventy members of staff who have completed Mental Health First Aid training and four members of staff are Mental Health First Aid Instructors, who continued to deliver sessions throughout the academic year 2024/25.

Number of people by religion

In 2024/25, whilst 10.25% of staff did not identify their religious status (no response or not specified), which is a decrease of 1.00% from 2023/24 and a decrease of 29.71% since 2017/18; 52.62% of staff have declared that they belong to a religion.  As part of our inclusive approach to recognising religious diversity, we have developed and continue to promote the use of various multi-purpose quiet rooms across our different campuses, which can be used for prayer, mindfulness, reflective space, and also breastfeeding. These spaces are being used by both staff and students. This is also being taken into consideration during the planning stages for the development of our new town centre campus. 

We also utilise our Inclusion Calendar to celebrate and raise awareness for various religious days and events, for example, Eid, Diwali, World Religion Day, Epiphany, and Holi Day (this list is not exhaustive). We also encourage line managers to have open conversations with their staff members who may require flexibility in their working pattern or environment during religious events, for example, temporary working pattern adjustments during Ramadan; to support their requirements during this period. 

We have also assigned one of our Wellbeing and Safeguarding Leads as the Champion lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion who organises pop-up events in communal areas across campuses to encourage awareness and celebration.

Number of people by sexual orientation

In 2024/25,  non-declarations of sexual orientation decreased to 7.38%, from 8.35% in 2023/24, from 10.04% in 2022/23 and from 16% in 2021/22, which is a decrease of 8.62% over a 4 year period. 

In addition, over a 6 year period (2019 – 2025), the number of staff choosing ‘prefer not to say’ has decreased from 34.9% to 3.75%, which is indicative of both a culture that celebrates diversity, and trust in the College as an employer. 

Having a much better picture and understanding of the workforce enables the College to support staff more effectively. The increase in declarations has been in part to a number of initiatives such as taking part in the Pride Cymru annual parade, encouraging education through blended learning, working with Inclusive Companies, and celebrating with our LGBTQ+ staff and allies. We want to be an inclusive place to learn and work, where people can be their authentic selves and can be all that they can be.

Welsh

In the College during the year 2024/25 we had 69 staff across various roles in Curriculum and Business Support (9.9% of the workforce), who are able to verbally communicate in Welsh, self-assessing their Welsh speaking skills at being Level 4 or Level 5.  There has been a slight increase (from 2.1% to 11%) of staff who have not declared any of their Welsh language skills. Whilst staff are encouraged to declare their Welsh language skills during their onboarding process, along with ongoing reminders to existing staff, it is important that we continue to identify ways in which we can encourage more staff to declare their Welsh language abilities so we have a full picture of the Welsh language skills of our workforce.

Welsh language skills between 1 August 2024 and 31 July 2025

As a College we are striving to promote the use of Welsh in the workplace and continue to encourage staff to start learning Welsh, and develop their linguistic skills, in order to support our learners and contribute to the goal of a million Welsh speakers in Wales by 2050. 

All staff are encouraged to attend Welsh classes and some staff have attended residential courses to participate in an immersive experience. Staff are also encouraged to take part in exchange visits to further enhance their linguistic skills. College staff are targeted for development and enhancement of their Welsh language skills as follows:

• Teaching staff are able to access tailored Welsh language provision through the Cymraeg Gwaith ColegauCymru project and Collaborative Professional Learning Fund 2024/25;
• Front of house staff and staff who deal with the public on a daily basis are able to access a wide variety of Welsh for Adults courses and Say Something in Welsh courses are offered throughout the year, all fully subsidised, and a number of roles have been identified as Welsh speaking in line with the Welsh Language Standards requirements to provide services through the medium of Welsh.

During 2024/25, the Cymraeg Gwaith pathway evolved to strengthen progression routes for Welsh learners, with a particular focus on priority areas, for example:

• 15 Construction staff, 7 PGCE staff, and 13 part-time and commercial activity staff regularly attended the weekly Cymraeg Gwaith ‘Welsh in the Classroom’ sessions;
• 8 staff members enrolled on the online self-study course at entry level during 2024/25 with 75% completing at least 6 units;
• 2 staff members participated in an exchange visit to observe bilingual teaching practices across partner organisations;
• 36 staff members completed the College’s internal “Ein Taith Iaith” scheme, designed to enhance bilingual teaching practices;
• 35 members of the Ein Taith Iaith Scheme participated in reflective observations, with a particular emphasis on Welsh language use.

More detailed information can be found in the College’s Welsh Language Standards Compliance Report 2025.

Our Students

Gender

Learners identifying as male have outperformed those who identify as female, by a margin of less than one percentage point. There were more female than male full time FE learners in 2024/25. After performing at a rate in excess of the college average for the previous two years, learners who identify as Gender Neutral or Other have this year achieved at lower rates than their peers.

To support students of all genders, our Student Wellbeing Team provides various initiatives to support and empower students to be all that they can be. One of the College’s commitments is to combat period poverty and the disruption to education this can cause, by providing free period products, including trans-pants, and raising awareness across College.  The College also has ‘Wing Ambassadors’ in course areas to raise awareness of this initiative across College, in collaboration with curriculum managers and progress coaches to make this even more accessible. This has ensured students of all genders have access to essential products, removing any barriers to accessing education.

Ethnicity

In 2024-25, learners of Global majority heritage continue to outperform learners who identify as White. A number of groups of learners of Global majority heritage (50 learners in total) achieved 100% successful completion rates, including those who identify as: Arab, Asian Indian, Asian Pakistani, Black Caribbean, Chinese, Gypsy or Irish Traveller, Irish, Mixed – White and Black African, Mixed – White and Black Caribbean, Other Black background and Other Mixed background. Learners who identify as Black African (8 learners in total), continue to achieve at a rate slightly lower than the College average.   The non-disclosure rate of learners selecting the ‘Not known’ box continues to remain low, with only two students in 2024-25, demonstrating a significant improvement in effective data capture during the enrolment process.

There continues to be significant activities both in person and online to raise awareness and promote pertinent topics with students such as anti-racism as part of wider national and international awareness days and weeks, in line with the Student Wellbeing Calendar. The calendar is available to all curriculum teams in the College, including the Success Hubs, to encourage contribution. Examples include Hate Crime Awareness Week, Refugee Week, Black History month, and Anti-Bullying week, which are arranged by a Wellbeing and Safeguarding Lead who is the designated Champion for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

The student wellbeing assistance programme ‘Wisdom’ is also available in many different languages, allowing all students to access support, with many of our learners on ESOL courses having the ability to access counselling and support, ensuring that there is equitable access to such services and resources.

In addition, our Digital Citizenship buzz sessions have been adapted to take a preventative approach, offering students access to engaging sessions with external organisations to address specific concerns, and include updated and relevant resources to support the ethnic minority community.

Age

Welsh Government consistent performance measures categorise learners as 16 or 17+.

Significant improvements in success rates for those aged 16 have been seen, in line with an overall rise in attainment across curriculum areas, most notably at Level 1 and Level 3, as per previous years. The impact of the Step Up Hub and its delivery model, along with the implementation of Progress Coaches in this area can be attributed to some of the improvements with Level 1 success rates for those aged 16. Success rates for those aged 17% have declined across all levels.

Additional Learning Needs

Bridgend College classifies learners with an additional support need as follows: those who have self disclosed a learning disability, learning difficulty, or wellbeing/mental health need (Learning Difficulty or Disability – LDD); and those who have been assessed as having an ALN (Additional Learning Need) in accordance with the criteria outlined in the ALN Act and ALN Code. In previous reports, this distinction has not been used for the purpose of reporting, therefore, this is the first year of reporting in this way and as such the data being used cannot be directly compared to previous years.

However, our learners with ALN or LDD continue to achieve positively in relation to successful completion. This success is attributed to the excellent support provided to students who may require specific provision, in addition to the universal support provided to all students, led by our Additional Learning Needs (ALN) Support and Transition Team, in addition to the universal support provided to all students. 

We have various bespoke roles providing specialist support to students to remove and reduce learning barriers. These include an Autism Spectrum Conditions Lead, a BSL Communication Support Worker, Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD) Assessors/Specialist Tutors, and Inclusive Learning Facilitators, who all use a person-centred approach to work with students and their families to identify individual needs. Our ALN Transition and Support Leads also play an important role in ensuring the successful transition of pupils with additional learning needs into college. This involves developing meaningful relationships with prospective learners, their families and schools, which contributes to a clear understanding of individual needs in order to plan and provide effective support.

For learners who are assessed as having an Additional Learning Need (ALN), we plan and implement a package of support which is personal to each student and is reviewed as part of the person centred review of the Individual Development Plan (IDP) at least annually and shared with key staff involved in supporting the student, including course tutors.

We are ambitious for our students and dedicated to supporting them to ‘Be all that they can be.’ This includes supporting them to become more independent, achieve excellent outcomes and develop skills to live fulfilled adult lives within the communities in which they live.

Deprivation

39% of learners were in receipt of EMA in 2024-25, which is an increase on 36% in 2023-24. Learners in receipt of EMA achieved at a rate marginally below their peers who do not receive EMA, which is a similar picture to the previous academic year.

Our initiatives to support those in the most deprived areas continue, via collaboration with local Welsh businesses, and Wings Cymru, using sustainable eco-friendly sanitary products to help prevent period poverty. Multiple staff across sites are Wings Ambassadors. Also, our free breakfast initiative and Winter soup and hot chocolate stations have continued for all students across all of our campuses, providing access to hot drinks and toast; along with our food bank initiative providing food parcels that can be given to any students identified as needing support, for example, those who may not meet the criteria for free school meals or those who are struggling financially. 

During the academic year 2024-25, we were thrilled to officially launch ‘Y Siop’, a new on-campus pre-loved clothing store. Through generous donations from both staff and students, our College community has access to pre-loved clothing at an affordable price. This initiative has been particularly successful during cold Winter months, as students have been able to access free hats, scarves, gloves and coats.

Bridgend College also has a partnership with Working Wardrobe, a charity whose aim is to combat clothing poverty for workers and job seekers whilst promoting sustainability by reducing unnecessary landfill waste. This enables students to access professional clothing through Y Siop, empowering them to step confidently into the world of employment.

In addition to this, Big Bocs Bwyd has also been a very successful initiative in the College, whereby students can access free food produce to contribute to the reduction of food poverty and help improve the wellbeing of both the students and their families

By integrating ‘Y Siop’ and working with key partners like Working Wardrobe and Big Bocs Bwyd, we are actively reducing the ‘participation gap’ for students from deprived areas, ensuring that the cost of living does not become a barrier to educational attainment or professional progression, whilst also fostering a sense of community and shared responsibility across the College.

We are also leading the development of a TrACE (Trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences) toolkit for staff and students to ensure a consistent trauma informed approach, promoting safety, trust, choice, collaboration, empowerment and cultural consideration.

Welsh

In 2024-25, approximately 8.5% of Bridgend College’s full-time learners came from Welsh-medium schools across South East Wales. Among staff, 7% are fluent Welsh speakers, while 2.75% have self-identified as Level 4 Welsh speakers; which are slightly lower statistics from 2023-24. According to the 2021 Census, in Bridgend, 12.3% of residents indicated Welsh-speaking ability, a lower rate than the national average of 17.8%, underscoring regional variations in Welsh language proficiency across Wales.

At enrolment, students at the College who are Welsh speakers are provided with ID cards displaying the orange ‘Cymraeg’ logo and lanyards are also available. This makes it easy to identify Welsh speakers within the College, fostering communication in their preferred language. For those learning Welsh and improving their proficiency, a new lanyard featuring the word DYSGWR can be issued to reflect their progress and commitment to the language.

Students also have access to a bilingual student handbook about college life and support available which includes a section on opportunities to use Welsh. The handbook outlines the rights students have in terms of meetings, services and communication through the medium of Welsh. Also, as part of the student induction programme, a welcome talk highlighting key student services took place, including both Welsh and English spoken language and information on using the Welsh language at Bridgend College. 

As well as offering a range of cross-College activities on a weekly basis allowing both Welsh speaking learners and Welsh learners to use their Welsh Language skills in an informal setting, we also ensure that we raise awareness of Welsh language through various key calendar events throughout the year which students and staff take part in, such as Welsh Language Rights Day and Welsh Week. 

Since the initial launch of the Welsh Language Standards in April 2018, Bridgend College has taken a proactive approach in the promotion of the Welsh Language Standards. The Welsh Language and Culture Manager is responsible for the development of Welsh and the implementation and monitoring of the Welsh Language Standards at the College. The Welsh Language and Culture Manager reports directly to the Vice Principal of Curriculum and Quality who is the College’s strategic lead for Welsh.  The Translator and Welsh Language Standards and Services Lead is responsible for implementing and reviewing Welsh standards action plans, which highlight the standards relevant to curriculum departments and business support areas.

Consultation

We recognise that the involvement and engagement of appropriate stakeholders is critical to the success of our Strategic Equity Plan. Our current Strategic Equity Plan is due for renewal in September 2025, which will involve cross-collaboration between key stakeholders and the College’s Equality and Diversity Steering Group.

The EDI Working Group, Steering Group and Steering Committee continue to meet to discuss developments, achievements and areas for further focus or development, and are responsible for ensuring progressions are made with implementation of the plan through procedures and practices, and use a variety of methods to evaluate progress and achievements, to embed inclusion into every part of Bridgend College which is key to growing a truly inclusive culture where everyone feels like they belong.

A member of the HR team is part of the Equality and Diversity College’s working group for Wales, and regularly attends meetings and workshops to discuss progress and movements within the sector, and to implement best practice. Our Principal, Viv Buckley, is the current chair of this group.

In 2024/25 we also partnered again with Inclusive Companies which has enabled us to understand more about our practices and culture, and has been a key instrument in the pursuit of our equality and diversity strategy and road map for change, helping us to form a whole college approach to inclusion and inform our Strategic Equity Plan.

Governance

Our Governing Body is made up of people with a range of skills and experiences. The College believes that diverse Boards are better Boards and has ensured that the Governing Body better reflects the Community it serves.  In 2024-25, the Board comprised 3 males, 15 females; 1 of Welsh Black-mixed race ethnicity, 2 fluent Welsh speakers, 1 member of the LGBTQ+ community and 1 member with a declared disability.

The Board takes an active role in monitoring the progress of EDI goals and the strategic equality plan, with members also attending key events such as our Anti-Racist Action Plan reviews with the Black Leadership Group. Governors are provided with updates on EDI termly.

Professional Learning Development

We are committed to ensuring that our staff continue to develop and, in doing so, have a broad understanding of equality, diversity and human rights which may affect them or our students personally, and improve their competency on a professional level.

In 2024-2025 we continued to embed, promote and track completion of the mandatory EDI training module on our online learning system ‘Dysgu’. This module includes information about our statutory duties and pertinent themes such as different types of discrimination, protected characteristics, anti-racism, behaviours of being an active upstander, and how to uphold inclusive values and behaviours. Completion rates for this module continue to improve, with 95% of staff in compliance, compared to 92% at the point of the 2023-2024 report. This increase is due to tracking and monitoring by our L&D team, who send regular reminders to managers and staff to complete the training.

We continue to support staff through regular and focussed professional development, and continue to bring staff together for training, learning and development across different strands of equality, diversity and inclusion.  

We regularly hold Professional Learning Days and various ad-hoc learning opportunities on topics dedicated to EDI themes, such as anti-racist practice in education, trauma informed practice and inclusion across various protected characteristics such as neurodiversity, LGBTQ+ and menopause. 

Bespoke training has also continued to be delivered to managers and leaders, including sessions through an organisation called Leaders Unlocked around language and bias, and through DARPL (Diversity and Anti-racism Professional Learning), from a diverse team of providers with lived and professional experience. These are in addition to  professional learning activities undertaken in collaboration with the Black Leadership Group, Inclusive Companies, Race Council Cymru, EYST and other external organisations. This list is not exhaustive, and we also follow a calendar to align with national initiatives and tie in training for both staff and students in this way.

In December 2024, the College hosted an online PLD Day titled ‘The Power of People and Place’. The day featured a series of keynotes designed to challenge perspectives and enhance the College’s inclusive culture: Rachel Clarke ‘Anti-Racism & Equity’, Professor Jason Arday ‘Neurodiversity & Intersectionality’, Connor Allen provided creative reflection by using poetic expression to reflect on current affairs, and lastly, Dr. Paul Redmond led a session on ‘The Future of Work’. At the end of each Professional Learning Day, staff are encouraged to reflect on their learning within their individual teams, which fosters a culture of continuous learning in a safe environment, which is crucial for enabling our staff to progress on their journey to inclusion.

Feedback is consistently collected from staff on learning requirements with this agenda to ensure we respond appropriately with further training, and also a questionnaire to assess the levels of understanding and commitment from staff following the training.

Learner Engagement

Varied opportunities have been enhanced and will be further developed by our Student Wellbeing and Safeguarding Team, to enable learners to connect with peers, build confidence and engage in new activities, groups and societies. 

Our Student Wellbeing and Safeguarding Leads have continued to promote and support the wellbeing of students through activities and events in an innovative and engaging way for their ‘Champion’ areas, and ensure college is an inclusive environment where students have an experience that enables them to be all that they can be. 

Current ways in which we support this work include but are not limited to: 

• A team of Progress Coaches distributed across various Curriculum areas, who champion student progress and success by managing a person-centred learner journey for a caseload of students, developing and supporting their personal, social and emotional wellbeing through the Learning Programme Promise, enabling them to be all that they can be;
• A dedicated Student Wellbeing team to coordinate a range of pastoral support, facilities and activities for students and staff, offering multifaith, no faith, spiritual and cultural support and engagement opportunities;
• Various ‘pop ups’ in central areas across College to celebrate events such as College of Sanctuary, Race Equality Week, LGBTQ+ Week, Black History Month, World Religion Day, and showcase student work along this theme; 
• Commitment and progression towards becoming an Anti-Racist College, working towards decolonising the Curriculum via the Black Leadership Group 10 point plan, with best-practice taking place within our Services to People curriculum area, in Hair & Beauty. For example, the curriculum has been adapted to learn about treatments and make up for all skin types, and a qualification in textured hair has been developed.

In addition, all of our Level 1, 2 and 3 full-time learners undertake a series of eLearning modules that focus on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. There are also weekly features through e-tutorials that highlight celebratory and awareness calendar events such as Women’s History Month and Pride Month.

What’s Next?

• Embedding our renewed Strategic Equity Plan (2025-2030) outlining new key objectives to increase knowledge and understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion across the College; and embed a culture of inclusion aligned to our new Strategic Plan objectives: People, Place, Planet, Purpose;
• Renewal of our Disability Confident Leader status by November 2026 in collaboration with staff and taking insight from the Disabled People’s Rights Plan to identify any barriers and areas for further growth and improvement;
• To be transparent in our objectives, and continue to embed these via the Belonging page on our website and internal portal;
• Monitoring and continuing to achieve objectives outlined in our Anti-racism Action Plan and the Black Leadership Group’s 10 point plan;
• Establishing guidance and embedding support for our LGBTQ+ community, particularly staff identifying as Trans, or supporting students who identify as Trans;
• Continuing to work with external partners and members of staff including our Anti-racism Champion (ARC) to decolonise the curriculum; and highlight best practice and success stories
• Continue to utilise the Black Leadership Jobs Board and other inclusive recruitment portals such as Inclusive Companies for advertising key roles;
• Achieve College of Sanctuary status via cross College collaboration, which provides a broader context around inclusion and support linked to resettlement, asylum and migration;
• To celebrate and promote equality, diversity and inclusion events, and implement initiatives aligned to our Inclusion and Wellbeing calendars;
• To ensure that all Bridgend College policies are fit for purpose and in line with our vision for equality, diversity, inclusion and belonging, with accurate and comprehensive Equality Impact Assessments;
• To sustain a culture that celebrates diversity and is welcoming for all, where staff and students can be their true authentic selves and feel that they belong.

Work is continuing to improve our employment information and business practices in terms of equality, diversity and inclusion. Although we have made progress over the years, we understand we still have much to do to increase the diversity of our workforce, so we can draw on different perspectives and experiences. We are committed to publishing our annual Equality Report and Pay Gap Report to ensure that where gaps exist, they feature in our Strategic Equity Plan, to increase the diversity of the workforce and ensure equity across the organisation.

Finally, we must continue to firmly establish equality and equity as part of our everyday business and not something secondary, so that we consider it in everything we do. 

If you would like further information, or would like to request this document in a different format, please contact us: jobs@bridgend.ac.uk  | 01656 302302 Ext 660

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