Celebrating the people and partnerships shaping Scotland’s education future

In this short blog, Martin Boyle, Principal of The Open University in Scotland, explores the crucial role Scotland’s colleges play in creating opportunities for learners and the importance of university partnerships with colleges.

Coming together to celebrate education and the people who make it happen is hugely rewarding – and increasingly important.

That was certainly my experience at the Herald Education Awards 2026. As a judge, a sponsor and an attendee, I had the opportunity to see the awards from several different perspectives. I was struck by the breadth of excellent work taking place across Scotland’s education sector and, above all, the passion and commitment of the people behind it.

It’s important that Scotland’s education system holds to those truths. We have great educators, researchers, institutions, and most importantly young people, facing an increasingly complex and uncertain world head-on. The approaches of the past won’t always solve the challenges of the future and we must keep challenging ourselves to lead and shape that future, lest it is shaped for us.

That is why I am delighted that The Open University (OU) in Scotland will be once again sponsoring the Further Educational Institution of the Year award at the Herald Education Awards in 2027.

For me, this is about much more than sponsoring an awards category. It is about recognising the contribution Scotland’s colleges make to individuals, communities, employers and the wider economy, and celebrating the people who are finding new ways to create opportunities for students.

Colleges play a vital role

Scotland’s colleges occupy an important place in our education system. 

They provide opportunities for people at different stages of their lives, create routes into employment and further study, support employers with skills and workforce development, and at their best are authentically rooted in the communities they serve.

They are also important partners in creating the flexible, connected tertiary education system.

At The Open University in Scotland, we see the value of those partnerships every day. As Scotland’s national university for widening access and lifelong learning, we know that education does not always follow a traditional, linear path. People may need to study around work or caring responsibilities, return to education later in life, or take a different route to achieving their ambitions.

Creating new routes into higher education

That is why I am particularly excited about the next phase of our educational partnerships. We have recently secured support through the Scottish Funding Council’s University Transformation Fund to develop Catalyst Centre partnerships with five colleges in different parts of Scotland. 

Together, we will explore new and innovative pathways into higher education, creating more accessible opportunities for learners and clearer, frictionless, routes into degree-level study.

This is an important development for us. The Catalyst Centre model is about more than creating a progression agreement between two institutions. It is about working collaboratively to understand what learners, communities and employers need, and then developing new approaches that can help people progress.

It is also a good example of why collaboration across further and higher education matters so much.

Working together to address the challenges

The challenges facing education are complex. Learners are balancing work, family and financial pressures. Employers need new skills. Technology is changing the way we learn and work.

Institutions across the sector are having to think differently about how they deliver sustainable, high-quality education while continuing to widen opportunity.

No single institution can address these challenges alone.

The answer lies, in part, in working together: drawing on different strengths and expertise and making it easier for learners to move between different parts of the education system. In daring to try.

Our Catalyst Centre work is one example of that approach, bringing together the strengths of colleges with the OU’s experience of flexible, supported higher education to explore new possibilities for learners across Scotland.

We're bringing together the strengths of colleges with the OU’s experience of flexible, supported higher education."

That makes the Further Educational Institution of the Year award particularly meaningful for us to sponsor. The category celebrates institutions that demonstrate exceptional performance and impact, but it also shines a light on the innovation and ambition behind that success. The 2026 winner, Glasgow Clyde College, demonstrated exactly that; sustained excellence across its learning community and a strong commitment to its students and wider community.

Being a judge gave me the opportunity to see some of that work at close quarters. Being a sponsor allowed the OU to play a part in recognising it. And attending the awards reminded me how valuable it is for colleagues from across the sector to come together, celebrate success and share ideas. 

There are serious challenges around funding, recruitment, retention, skills and the future shape of the tertiary sector. But there is also an enormous amount of creativity and commitment across Scotland’s education institutions. The awards provide an opportunity to put that work in the spotlight.

I look forward to meeting the finalists, hearing about the work they are doing, and celebrating with colleagues from across Scotland’s education community. Because behind every successful institution, innovative programme and new partnership are people who believe that education can change lives. That is something worth recognising, and something worth celebrating.

31 August 2026