Organisers, keen to ensure that colleges and providers hit the July 9 deadline for entries, have confirmed this year’s awards will be held on November 24 at the Ultimate Experience venue located in the Royal Hospital Gardens, Chelsea.

They have also confirmed Mike Baker, the BBC’s former education correspondent, as compere alongside Frances Wadsworth, principal of East Surrey College and a member of the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) council.

The awards are now in their sixth year and this is the last time LSIS will run them. From next year they will be organised by TSL Education, publisher of FE Focus.

The STAR Awards are open to anyone working in the learning and skills sector or in an organisation which receives cash from the Skills Funding Agency or the Young People’s Learning Agency.

Nominations should be no more than 250 words plus contact and other details. Shortlists will be announced in FE Focus in September.

http:starawards.excellencegateway.org.uk.