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Skills England, ÎÞÂ붯»­ and Telford College unite to discuss aligning education with industry needs

Posted Yesterday

The power of collaboration between education providers and industry to boost opportunities has been underlined to the Chair of Skills England during a visit to Shropshire.

ÎÞÂ붯»­ welcomed Phil Smith CBE, Chair of and Joanna Moonan, Deputy Director for Clean Energy and Life Sciences at Skills England, for a day visit focused on aligning education provision with evolving national and sectoral skills needs.

The programme, hosted by Vice-Chancellor Professor Ken Sloan, began at The Quad, which houses both ÎÞÂ붯»­’s Telford provision and Telford College’s digital courses.

There, the visitors met Lawrence Wood, Principal and CEO of , and students from both the College and Harper Adams.

Among the groups from Harper Adams were undergraduates on the University’s new degrees in Robotics and in Data Science, as well as people from across the West Midlands and beyond currently undertaking short courses in Leadership and Project Management at the Quad.

Meanwhile, students from Telford College talked about their work on coding and cybersecurity. The Quad is the college’s base for IT and digital courses, including hardware and software development, apprenticeships and T-Levels. 

The visit offered a valuable opportunity for students to share their experiences, ambitions, and perspectives on skills gaps in their chosen fields of study - and was followed by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Telford College and ÎÞÂ붯»­.

The institutions are exploring building on their current collaboration through the creation of an Advanced Technology and Engineering Skills Hub, bringing together collective strengths in engineering and technology skills for local learners and local employers.

Lawrence Wood, Telford College Principal and Chief Executive, said: “Partnership is really important to us. Our digital qualifications are a vital pathway to higher quality and better paid jobs and having a campus in the heart of the town centre makes the college more accessible than ever.

“Our curriculum at Station Quarter is targeted towards careers in sectors such as cybersecurity, AI, virtual and augmented reality, cloud computing, wireless technologies and 5G innovation. These are skills which local employers tell us they desperately need.”

Professor Sloan added: “It was fantastic to bring both Phil and Joanna to the Quad so they could see first-hand the work being done there, and for them to talk to some of the students who are taking part in the diverse range of courses on offer from both ÎÞÂ붯»­ and Telford College.

“I’m also pleased they were able to hear more about some of the future plans which we’re exploring as institutions, which will harness our collective power, drive forward skills, and boost our region’s economy.”

Later, the delegation returned to the Edgmond campus to take part in a roundtable session with senior colleagues from the University.

The discussion centred on skills requirements in sectors that Harper Adams serves including agriculture, food systems, veterinary sciences, life sciences, and engineering, and how the University and Skills England might work collaboratively to meet those demands in coming years.

The visit concluded with a meeting between Phil Smith, Joanna Moonan and James Staniforth, Principal and CEO of Shrewsbury Colleges Group.

Professor Sloan added: “ÎÞÂ붯»­ looks forward to working closely with Skills England, our local Further Education colleges, and our wider industry stakeholders to turn today’s ideas into concrete programmes and pathways that will support learners, regional economic growth, and UK ambitions in skills ecosystem development.”