University Technical Colleges (UTCs) provide a unique and highly-relevant approach to education that addresses the changing needs of students and employers. 

A critical part of this for UTC Warrington is the focused teaching of essential skills on a Skills Builder Accelerator programme to support students to thrive in the workforce, on which they’ve developed an essential skill reward system to celebrate students’ success.

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Essential skills in action at UTC Warrington stakeholder event 

Employability skills can be hard to define, shared Chris Hatherall, Principal of UTC Warrington, but the Skills Builder Framework has given students at the UTC the language and path to progress that so many employers are seeking. Simon Connel, Baker Deering CEO confirmed that one of the things that sets UTCs apart is equipping students with employability skills. 

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Bridging the skills gap: education and industry collaboration

T level coordinator at UTC Warrington Nicola Graham, gave an insight into how T levels are offering students practical knowledge to meet the needs of industry, with Skills Builder as key to their delivery method. 

 “Employers recruit attitudes, Nicola summised. The UTC are teaching their students not only the technical competencies that T levels provide, but also the skills that employers are looking for – as identified through the eight essential skills. 

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Sellafield, working with us on an employer programme, offers work placements to many of the UTC students, and recruits a number of UTC alumni every year. 

Mark Duffy of Sellafield shared how Skills Builder has given UTC Warrington students the edge when it comes to employability. “We’re looking for students who are work ready. Skills Builder makes sure that they are.” 

Evelyn Haywood, Director of Education at Skills Builder Partnership, highlighted the power of the Skills Builder approach in joining up the whole journey of essential skills throughout a lifetime – through education and throughout an individual’s career. Megan Chu, from Manchester Met, explained the  higher degree apprenticeship route: earning a BSc/BA/BEng while working full-time and meeting apprenticeship standards. Tony Ryan, at the Design & Technology Association shared some of the association’s resources – Inspired By Industry –  free KS3 Design & Technology resources focusing on design thinking that meet curriculum requirements. Andy Carter MP for Warrington South explained his long-standing interestn how we get talent into business. During his time as a governor in an Alternative Provision setting, he found that harnessing students’ creativity provided a space for them to find themselves.

UTC Warrington alumni success stories

Callum and Kieran, UTC Warrington alumni in engineering Btec L3 career journey saw them build practical experience at the UTC, from the shop floor to working with 3D printing technologies.  Following their time at UTC, they secured apprenticeships at Teckentrup, a  garage and industrial steel door manufacturer. 

Their apprenticeship started on the factory floor, learning the production line from the ground up. Callum and Kieran reflected that the skills they acquired at UTC directly translated to their practical work on the factory floor. The two newly appointed apprentices played a pivotal role in implementing Teckentrup's investment in new machinery to improve production speed. They setup the templates for this new equipment and trained staff on how to use it effectively.

Thank you to UTC Warrington for an inspiring event, and thank you to Skills Leaders Rob Skelland and Rebecca Quick for embedding the essential skills which are empowering UTC Warrington students to succeed in the world of work. 

Interested in joining a movement of educators building essential skills? Applications are currently open for our flagship education programme, the Accelerator programme. 

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