Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

MK College Group is proud to currently have five employee networks: Cultural Diversity, Disability, LGBTQ, Women’s and Men’s. The employee networks each have a Chair and an executive sponsor to support the work they do. The overarching aims for the employee networks are to:

• Provide a safe space for discussion of issues.
• Help to raise awareness of issues within the wider organisation.
• Provide a source of support for individual staff who may be facing challenges at work.
• Offer a collective voice for the workforce to communicate with management.

All MK College Group employees can join any one of the employee networks and engage at a level that is comfortable for them.

Established in 2020, the Student Commission on Racial Justice is a national, student-led project giving young people across the country a platform to speak out. Young people view Black Lives Matter as one of the most important issues of their generation. Exploring racial justice across four key areas of society – education, employment, health and policing and crime. The Student Commission is giving young people a voice and empowering them to take action.

Leaders Unlocked have built this project from the ground up, based on their extensive networks within the Further Education sector. They are currently partnered with 10 colleges across England: Barnsley College, Bedford College Group, Birmingham Metropolitan College, City College Norwich, DN Colleges Group, Kirklees College, Leyton Sixth Form College, MK College Group, Solihull College and University Centre and The Sheffield College.

Working with the participating colleges, they recruit over 40 passionate students to lead the Commission. Throughout the project, the Commissioners are supported by Leaders Unlocked to build skills in research, public speaking and engaging other young people. They also produce a short animation or film and workshop that reaches tens of thousands of students across England. The Commissioners work with their own colleges and national stakeholders to develop recommendations for action to tackle racial injustice.

Community Impact Report

Gender and Ethnicity Pay Gap Report

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Charter

Disability Confident employer scheme – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The Runnymede Trust

Switchboard LGBT+ Helpline

Menopause and Me|Official Website

Student Commission on Racial Justice – Leaders Unlocked (leaders-unlocked.org)

For a copy of the Inclusive Language Guide, please contact Arv Kaushal arvind.kaushal@mkcollege.ac.uk

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Calendar 2024

The year has been a year of changes, challenges and successes and I’d like to take a moment to thank you all for your partnership, and passionate commitment, to Building Fairer Futures.

This year, the theme for the imagery within this years calendar is ‘community’, a theme that brings together all our Group values and our work to Build Fairer Futures. Helping our learners find their place in the wider community is a key driver behind everything we do, so it’s great to see so many wonderful images celebrating the different communities of which we are a part.

If you would like a copy of the calendar, please contact Arv Kaushal arvind.kaushal@mkcollege.ac.uk

At MK College Group, we want to support your personal and professional development and have a wide range of learning and development opportunities that we can share and make available to you. If this is something that interests you please talk with your Line Manager.

We also offer Transform: Leadership and Management Development. Which offers two structured programmes, Aspire and Develop, for aspirational and developing Leaders and Managers.

• Transform Aspire for those who are keen to progress their career with MK College Group and start to learn about the role of a Team Leader or Manager.
• Transform Develop for those already managing a team or function to develop the knowledge, skills and collaboration opportunity to be a successful leader, including those newly promoted, developing or wishing to update their knowledge and skills whilst building an internal network.

Milton Keynes College Group has retained our Leaders in Diversity status from the National Centre for Diversity, remaining the only organisation in the city with this award. The Leaders in Diversity award recognises organisations going above and beyond in their commitment to the FREDIE values of Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement.

The accreditation recognises the extensive work of the College Group in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I) which has included becoming one of the first FE institutions to publish data on our ethnicity pay gap and providing ED&I training to our senior leadership team.

The following report highlights the positive practice areas described by staff and students, and evidenced during the 6 months auditing period, alongside making recommendations where further work could be undertaken.

“I consider the organisation to be the best I have ever worked. All organisations can improve on FREDIE, enough is never going to be enough as it is always changing and expectations of ourselves as a college should always be the highest. We have some things we could do a little better in some areas, but I still think we are a role model, and we are leading the change for so many.”
Quote from the workforce survey conducted by the National Centre for Diversity