New College Durham is one of 12 leading colleges and Independent Training Providers to have been selected to join the skills revolution by becoming part of WorldSkills UK’s Centre of Excellence.
The Centre of Excellence – partnered and funded by educational charity and awarding body NCFE – will see more than 40,000 young students and apprentices, from all socio-economic groups across the UK, armed with world-class skills.
The Centre aims to supercharge the quality and delivery of technical and vocational training by transferring world-class expertise and knowledge to help develop educators and learners
New College Durham is one of 12 institutions entering the Centre this year to join the first wave of 20 colleges selected last September, when the three-year pilot project was launched.
Educators at the colleges and training providers will receive exclusive train the trainer sessions and 60 hours of intensive continual professional development.
Alison Maynard, Deputy Principal at New College Durham said: “We are delighted to have been chosen to be a part of WorldSkills UK’s Centre for Excellence. At New College Durham we are constantly working to ensure our provision is of the highest standard. We are looking forward to taking part in the training which is designed to transform the quality of teaching, training and assessment.”
Dr Neil Bentley-Gockmann OBE, CEO of WorldSkills UK, said: “In order to deliver the world-class skills that employers demand to be internationally competitive, we need to invest in the educators that are training young people for the future.
“The Centre of Excellence is a radical new way of bringing global best practice to local economies. Mainstreaming excellence in training standards and delivering it directly to tens of thousands of young students and apprentices at their places of learning is key to levelling up the economy and attracting inward investment.
“This new phase of the project means that we are now supporting young people the length and breadth of the UK.”
The programme covers three strands: train the trainer modules, harnessing of international industry best practice through current preparation for WorldSkills Shanghai 2022 and influencing setters of training standards.
The three-year partnership deal is the single largest investment ever made by the NCFE Group.