Putting Futures First: Warrington & Vale Royal College’s commitment to sustainability demonstrated in their ground-breaking digital prospectus

Warrington & Vale Royal College is proud to be leading the charge on change in Further Education with our revolutionary digital prospectus for 16-18-year-olds. The college, which is Warrington’s leading provider of technical education and training, has ditched traditional paper prospectuses in favour of an innovative and sustainable solution that best aligns itself with the increasingly eco-aware Gen-Z.

This exciting development follows a string of actions to make the college more sustainable as part of our #OneStepGreener campaign. Over the summer, the Warrington campus has seen the installation of solar panels to reduce the college’s carbon emissions, brise soleil and solar film to minimise its reliance on mechanical cooling systems, and the introduction of green spaces to conserve onsite wildlife.

The college’s decision to go digital with their 16-18 prospectus has already yielded remarkable results, with a monumental 124 trees spared from the printing press, equivalent to over one million sheets of paper. To put this in perspective, a pile of the prospectuses that have not been printed this year alone would climb above iconic structures like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Alton Towers' 'Oblivion' rollercoaster, or even a stack of twelve fully-grown giraffes!

In collaboration with SMILE, a UK leading strategic website consultancy company, forthcoming future students will now have the power to create a personalised prospectus, explore their future career options and share this with their family and friends in just a few taps. Positioning themselves as ‘Your Career College’, the college’s digital prospectus has been expertly engineered to put young people’s career paths at the centre of their user experience, promoting the college’s philosophy of “careers not courses”. Ensuring that young people receive the most relevant guidance to make their future aspirations a reality, the digital prospectus will prompt users to select which course areas they are interested in studying, before displaying a variety of career suggestions which will then generate the most suitable course.

Deputy Principal of Finance & Resources and Chair of the college’s Sustainability Committee, Michelle Seeley said: “The decision to launch a digital prospectus represents the college’s commitment to environmental sustainability, acknowledging the urgent need to reduce waste, conserve resources and lessen our carbon footprint. By going digital, we're not only minimising paper waste, but we're also contributing to a cleaner and greener future for our students, community and beyond.”

If you or someone you know are considering studying at Warrington & Vale Royal College, or you are simply curious about the college’s innovative approach, click the button below to create your personalised prospectus today!