New laws passed through the Skills and Post-16 Education Act (Skills Bill) have supported Newbury College’s position of offering “careers, not courses”.
Under the new legislation, schools are required to ensure all pupils meet technical education providers who offer programmes such as apprenticeships and T Levels – opening their eyes to a wide range of careers.
The government hopes this will help economic recovery and growth by making it easier for people to get the skills they need to secure well-paid jobs in industries with skills gaps, such as health and social care, engineering, digital, clean energy and manufacturing.
These are all strong areas of focus for Newbury College and have been boosted in recent years by implementing T Levels, the opening of University Centre Newbury and the creation of a new Renewable Energy Centre on the Monks Lane campus.
Prioritising green skills, so the training on offer meets the needs of the growing green economy, is one of the key measures introduced by the act and one that is supported across curriculum areas. Green Skills is also one of the Skills Bootcamps, recently introduced by the College, to support employers with upskilling and recruiting staff.
Newbury College has a long history of embedding employers in the heart of the skills system to develop its curriculum, provide work placements for young people and create valuable apprenticeship opportunities. The Act now underpins this and provides support to the College’s efforts in ensuring that the training on offer meets the needs of the local area and that people no longer have to leave their hometowns to find great jobs or access Higher Education.
Lee Hunt, Vice Principal, said:
“We believe in a ‘careers, not courses’ approach to post-16 education, and we are pleased to see this represented in the Act. This legislation supports our purpose of ‘creating opportunities to transform lives’ and makes sure everyone can gain the skills they need to progress into a rewarding job.
“The key measures set out in the Act mean businesses will continue to have access to talented, qualified employees for their workforces as technology and working practices advance.
“Through our Career Academy programmes, apprenticeships and our University Centre provision, we are creating clear, targeted progression routes which are easier to understand, meet the local area’s needs and can be trusted by students and employers.”
To find out more about the Skills and Post-16 Education Act, visit gov.uk and to find out more about studying at Newbury College, visit newbury-college.ac.uk