Our Mission
Our Mission is to connect people to opportunities.
The College is home to a genuine and supportive community of students and staff - we believe you won’t find a more supportive and friendlier college.
And that support leads to some great results. A high proportion of our students progress successfully into further or higher education, apprenticeships or employment. Check out our former student profiles page to see a sample of their amazing achievements or our Student Success Stories on our YouTube channel.

Students at East Durham College also develop their confidence, self-esteem and work-related skills - developing good employability skills and enhance their future opportunities.
We also have a strong focus on helping students to make a positive contribution to their communities through the community project aspect of our exciting tutorial programme. The work of our students and our Students’ Union also helps a wide range of charities and community action projects. In fact, our 14-16 Engage provision was shortlisted for the 2020 Tes FE Awards in the Contribution to the Local Community Award category.
We have a key focus on supporting students in their journey on to employment or further forms of education and training, building upon the positive and life-changing experience of studying at East Durham College.
East Durham College - Creating Outstanding Futures
Our Values
STUDENTS
We will always have students at the heart of our decision-making.
EXCELLENCE
Provision of the highest quality over a broad range of inclusive provision which allows our students to thrive.
TRUST
Promoting a respectful culture, providing a diverse working environment with a focus on honesty, integrity and inclusivity.
SUSTAINABILITY
Ensuring both economic and environmentally sustainable provision for our present and future community
Our Objectives & Long Term Goals
PEOPLE
- Design, deliver and recruit with integrity to high quality progression pathways to meet regional economic skills needs
- Develop and implement our workforce development strategy
PERFORMANCE
- Achieve and celebrate excellence in all our activities
- Maintain very high levels of student satisfaction
- We will continue to grow our income and maintain our financial health
PARTNERSHIPS
- Continue to collaborate to support, develop and extend the regional educational skills offer to meet community and employers’ needs. We will proactively work with partners to increase participation of young people in learning, while addressing persistent high rates of NEETs among some cohorts
PROMOTION
- Further develop our position as a brand leader in our key markets
- Continue to mobilise our student body to take positive action to support their community
PLANNING
- Provide sustainable, world-class facilities and resources for our students, customers, employer partners and staff to support our growth
- Review our workflow practices in key support areas to improve our efficiency and reduce our carbon footprint