The Royal National College for the Blind (RNC)

02/10/2026

🔴 LIVE STREAM LINK HERE: ➔ https://www.youtube.com/

RNC Hereford are off to Italy this weekend for the fifth and final leg of the European Blind Football League.

It’s a tense finish to the season. RNC lead with 19 points, but hosts Quartotempo Firenze are right on our heels with 16 points and home advantage. Can RNC push through and make it three titles in a row?

The fixtures are as follows (UK times):

Pirsos Thessaloniki 0-1 Blind Football Poland (BFP) FT
Dortmund BvB 0-7 RNC Hereford FT
Quartotempo Firenze 4-1 Cecifoot Charleroi FT
BFP 1-2 RNC Hereford FT

14:30 Quartotempo Firenze v Pirsos Blind Sports Union / Αθλητική Ένωση Τυφλών ΠυρσόςThessaloniki
16:00 Dortmund BVB v Cécifoot Charleroi

29/09/2026

Over 70% of working-age blind or vision impaired people are unemployed. This gap isn't caused by a lack of skills or willingness to work, but by systemic, environmental, and structural barriers.

At RNC, our mission of 'education, employment and empowerment for all people with a vision impairment' has never been more important. To help deliver this, we offer all our students the opportunity to undertake work experience.

When local and national employers partner with us, the impact cuts both ways. It is always brilliant to see feedback where a student has been inspired, but also where our students have driven real, positive change within a business.

CY2 Limited build cyber security capabilities, and David from CY2 had this to say after hosting RNC students last year:

'The cohort last year inspired us to make accessibility improvements to our products. For the range used, we now get individuals to install the client application which solves some of the key combination issues experienced. This change improves the user experience for everyone, not just those with visual impairments. In our Arena app, we now have screen readers installed in some instance types which are easy to activate and we are looking to expand this capability in the future.'

By hosting a placement, you aren't just supporting a student's career journey. You could also be making your own products and business more accessible for everyone.

If you are a business that could offer a work placement or a week's work experience to one of our students, we'd love to hear from you.

Please email [email protected] to get involved.

28/09/2026

To mark European Day of Languages (26 September 2026), staff and students gathered today for a celebration of the many languages and cultures that make up our College community!

We didn't limit the festivities to Europe, we celebrated the range of languages spoken across our campus. Those in attendance enjoyed a range of tasty snacks from Spain, Italy, Russia, France, and Sri Lanka, accompanied by energetic music from Spain, Italy, and Russia that had everyone singing, clapping, and dancing along.

A recent campus-wide survey revealed that our students and staff speak an incredible 18 different languages:
Afrikaans, Bangla, Bengali, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, and Welsh.

Thank you to everyone who shared their food, music, and traditions with us today!

28/09/2026

A massive shout-out to our incredible Student Ambassadors! Starting somewhere new is always a big transition, but our Ambassadors have already been hard at work ensuring our new students feel welcomed, supported, and confident as they settle into College life.

Whether it's answering questions, helping navigate campus, or just offering a friendly chat, they play a vital role in keeping the RNC community together.

Meet this year's Student Ambassador cohort and find out more about what they do here: https://rnc.ac.uk/study-here/support-and-wellbeing/student-ambassadors/

25/09/2026

Join our team! RNC is looking for a Wellbeing Support Officer to provide a high level of holistic support to identified students during their residential placement on campus during term times. Find out more and apply today at https://rnc.ac.uk/jobs/wellbeing-support-officer-2/

22/09/2026

Wishing the best of luck to the England Women’s Blind Football squad as they head out to Turkey for the 2026 IBSA Women's Blind Football European Championship (3–7 October)!

We’re proud to share that staff member Katie Christopher has been selected as a sighted goalkeeper, joined by several familiar RNC alumni!

Here's the full squad heading out to compete:

Alicia Grimmond
Katie Christopher
Samantha Gough
Amelie Ford
Freya Gavin
Caitlin Leigh
Selina Prieto
Lucja Wyrwantowicz
Alice Hopkins

England goes into the tournament on a fantastic run of form, following their victory at the IBSA Blind Football Women's Nations Cup in Poland over the summer and their silver medal performance at the IBSA Women's Blind Football World Championships in India last year.

Go England! We’ll all be cheering you on from home! 🙌

Congratulations to the players selected for the 2026 IBSA Women's Blind Football European Championship! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 👊

Read more here 👉 https://england.onelink.me/rgxW/8h8v1etr

22/09/2026

Well hellooooo Llandudno! We are at Sight Village North Wales with North Wales Society of the Blind today at the Venue on the Promenade from 9am til 4pm. Pop in and see us 👍

21/09/2026

Congratulations to the RNC acoustic shooting team, competing under Paralympic standards at the British Open Para Sport Championships, students Tegan and Dayzie alongside alumni Harvey and Humna brought home an incredible 5 medals:

2 Gold🥇
2 Silver🥈
1 Bronze🥉

Read the full story here: https://rnc.ac.uk/news/acoustic-shooters-triumph-at-british-open-para-sport-championships-in-swansea/

Disability Sport Wales Welsh Target Shooting Federation

Everything you need to picture life at RNC; from courses and college life to wellbeing and how to apply. Take a look around, then come and see us.

14/09/2026

What does true inclusion look like in post-16 education?

Natspec has launched a landmark report exploring inclusion from the perspective of specialist college students and leaders. We are proud that students and leadership team members from The Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) contributed directly to this important research.

Key takeaways from the report emphasise that inclusion is not simply about location or placing every student in a mainstream setting. True inclusion means:

- providing tailored support, specialist equipment, and high aspirations where learners feel safe and understood.

- empowering young people to have real control over their choices, learning pathways, and independence.

- providing a genuine sense of belonging where disabled young people are celebrated for who they are.

Specialist colleges like RNC provide the foundation for disabled young people to build skills, confidence, and independence for an included future in wider society.

Read Natspec’s full report here: https://natspec.org.uk/policy/inclusion-report/

10/09/2026

This week is Remember a Charity Week, and you could support young people with visual impairment by leaving a gift in your Will!

Once you have taken care of family and friends, a gift to The Royal National College for the Blind can help future generations of young people with blindness and visual impairment shape their own futures.

A gift in your Will helps RNC provide the specialist resources and opportunities that enable students to grow in confidence and prepare for adult life.

Your legacy. Their future.

For more information visit: https://www.rnc.ac.uk/giftinwill

Every gift, no matter its size, can help open doors for future students.

Please consider leaving a gift for RNC in your Will, after looking after your loved ones. You'll be supporting young people who are blind or partially sighted well into the future.