The College was accredited as a Centre of Vocational Excellence in May 2004. The College was one of the first to gain this recognition alongside the large, incorporated Further Education colleges. Although a construction college, the College was specifically accredited in traditional building crafts, reflecting the specialist nature of its courses, relating to high levels of skill required for building conservation. These skills are also required more generally for the repair and maintenance of five million buildings in the United Kingdom built before 1919 when what we now call traditional materials were then the normal method of construction.

Alongside the core provision of traditional building crafts, the College readily assumes a more strategic role in East London working closely with Sector Skills Councils, the Learning and Skills Council and the London Development Agency to plan ahead to match the supply and demand for construction skills so that local communities can benefit from the enormous scale of construction activity in East London the Thames Gateway.

The College provides a home for the Building One Stop Shop London East and is actively involved in the work of national and regional organisations and employers concerned with skills and qualifications required for traditional building crafts and the use of natural materials in modern construction.

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Partnerships