Crewe will be home to a new University Technical College. UTC Crewe, due to open in September 2016, is a major new investment in the educational offering in Crewe. This new college will offer an exciting and inspiring education for young people seeking a pathway to employment and further education.
University Technical Colleges offer courses for 14-19 year olds which are designed with input from local employers and a partner university. UTCs already operate in other parts of the country but this is the first of its kind in Crewe.
Commenting on the successful UTC Crewe bid, Bentley’s member of the board for Human Resources, Dr Ariane Reinhart, said: “UTC Crewe is fantastic news for Crewe, local students and for Bentley. It will enhance the local community, boosting skills, education and employability, for the benefit of individuals and many organisations.”
It is driven by a collaboration between Bentley Motors, Manchester Metropolitan University, Siemens, Bosch, OSL Rail, Jacobs Engineering, Chevron Racing, Optical 3D, South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce and Cheshire East Council. The aim is to feed the gap local businesses have of young people with automotive, engineering, rail and design skills in these growing industries.
As with all colleges, the Principal and teaching staff are pivotal to success. At UTC Crewe, they will be able to draw on expertise from a range of partners to ensure the academic and practical learning activities are relevant for the changing world of work leading to clear student pathways into academia or employment, or both.
Bentley has been closely involved with the UTC project and will continue to work with the College and its partners to help design a curriculum that reflects the needs of industry and provides an exciting and inspiring learning environment.
The collaboration with UTC Crewe forms the next step in Bentley’s focus on talent development and continuous improvement. Bentley already offers trainee programmes, including apprenticeships and graduate schemes, around 150 work experience placements each year and has an established school liaison programme providing workshops in local schools. UTC Crewe will build on these existing development activities.