Lakes College have announced that they will be receiving new funding, one of only 37 providers in the country, to help boost skills in technical teaching. The funding aims to support the recruitment of new teachers and lecturers from industry in order to utilise their specialist knowledge in the training of students at the college.
The ‘Taking Teaching Further’ (TTF) funding is from the Department For Education and is part of a £5 million programme which aims to further boost the quality of the post-16 teaching workforce by bringing in more diverse experiences and skills by recruiting industry specialists and retraining them to work in the further and higher education workforce.
The scheme was unveiled in June, when it was announced that each provider would receive up to £20,000 to train up to five ‘experienced industry professionals’ in a Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training.
This first round of funding will focus on ‘priority sectors’, including T-levels in the fields of education and childcare, digital and construction, as well as engineering and manufacturing and other STEM subjects.
Gold standard T Level qualifications will be introduced from 2020, these high quality technical courses are equivalent to A Levels and will be available to study at Lakes College.
Chris Nattress (Lakes College Principal) stated: “The funding is a great boost for not just for Lakes College, but for the West Cumbrian community and future workforce as it enables the us to bring in industry experts to deliver our courses and help tackle the skills gap many industries are now facing. T levels will provide young people with the cutting-edge skills and experience they need to secure a career or progress into further training.”
