On Wednesday 11 June, Kirklees College hosted this year’s College Outstanding Learner Success Awards (COLS) at the John Smiths Stadium in Huddersfield. Our COLS awards are funded through the Thomas Armytage Technical School Endowment of 1879, and every one of our winners received a cash prize in recognition of their efforts.
At the ceremony, 28 awards were given out to all of our curriculum areas, and every award was given to a student who has gone above and beyond in their academic and extra-curricular efforts at college this year. The nominations were varied and a lot of our students have excelled both in and out of the classroom.
Throughout 2025 we are celebrating 200 years of Technical Education in Kirklees, so to represent this celebration at our ceremony we introduced five new categories for this year. Three were based on our Kirklees College values of Kindness, Unity and Excellence. Our other two were a Students’ Choice, selected by our Students’ Union, and Principal’s Choice chosen by our Principal Palvinder Singh.
Our Student’s Choice winner was William Heath for his excellent attitude to college, and the kindness he shows to everyone in our community. William is a class rep and takes an active role in amplifying student voice at college. William also recently helped people escape from a fire on a local bus, showing amazing bravery.
Our Principal’s Choice winner was Georgie O’Connor for her outstanding leadership of the CanSat Aerospace Competition at our Engineering Centre, which she coordinated whilst maintaining outstanding academic performance on her T Level programme.
Luke Ambler, CEO and Co-Founder of ANDYSMANCLUB hosted the evening and we were treated to a two-course meal provided by the stadium. Kirklees College’s Principal and Chief Executive Palvinder Singh gave the opening speech of the night in which he mentioned the wider support our students get when at Kirklees College:
“We owe this success to the collective efforts of many. To the dedicated staff who inspire and guide our students, to the families and friends who provide unwavering support, and to the employers who offer real-world experiences—thank you. Your contributions are integral to our students’ achievements.”
Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this event so successful for our students! Congratulations to all of our amazing winners!
To find out more about Kirklees College visit our homepage.
