Colleges get slice of £175m skills funding

4 hours ago

Chris Lockyer

Colleges will be centres of excellence in defence and clean energy

Yeovil College A woman wearing a jumper which has a union flag on the arm, is seen using a tool to drill downwards into some material. She is looking at her job. — Colleges will be centres of excellence in defence and clean energy

Further education colleges will be awarded a share of £175m to support students who take on studies in defence, clean energy, digital and manufacturing industries.

Gloucestershire College, Weston College, the UCS College Group in Somerset and Yeovil College are part of the 19 centres across the country to benefit from the government funding, which aims to deliver training in sectors deemed important for the future of the UK.

The government hopes to provide training for around 65,000 students.

Andy Berry, the principal and CEO of UCS College Group said he was "delighted" by the outcome.

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Berry, whose college will become a centre of technical excellence for clean energy, said: "It's going to really help enhance our work with employers as we develop brand new programmes to help people gain the skills they need to get into the green sector for all these green skills."

He added: "This money is going to really help us support the region to transition away from fossil fuels."

Mark Bolton, the principal of Yeovil College, will see his institution become a centre of excellence for defence.

He said: "It's an important milestone for our local area.

"The communities... that we serve will have an ongoing renewal of learning environments."

Bolton said the cash will enable the college to "continue" to invest in "cutting edge resources, equipment and tools to drive an ever-evolving curriculum."

Mark Bolton said the cash will help the region in its defence ambitions

Yeovil College A man in a blue suit and white shirt is looking at the camera with his arms folded, smiling. He is stood infront of a green helicopter, bearing the name 'lynx 300'. — Mark Bolton said the cash will help the region in its defence ambitions

Gloucestershire College won funding to become a digital and technologies specialist centre.

Head of marketing Andrew Plant said it would mean: "Heavy investment for the young people in the area in digital and technology skills to upskill people for the world of work."

Plant said the cash will be used to upgrade the college's advanced digital academy suite, as well as support other places with their digital skills to "be the driving force behind that upskill across the whole of the South West."

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