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New degrees for process industries to offer flexible work-based learning
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29/07/2010
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A new range of sector-specific foundation degrees is being developed which will offer people the ability to opt in and out of the work-based learning as needed. A consortium of sector skills councils, business and academia is developing the training – and industry champions have been appointed to ensure content and delivery match industry's requirements.Employers from process industries are being urged to help shape the new Working Higher foundation degrees. The Working Higher initiative is focused on providing flexible work-based routes to support workforce development. This £2.9 million initiative is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council and is a collaborative project between sector skills councils Cogent and Semta, the Higher Education Academy UK Physical Sciences Centre and the University of Hull.
Five new foundation degrees are being developed, for bioscience and pharmaceutical, nuclear, chemicals, refinery and petrochemicals, and polymers industries.
"The response so far has been positive, but we need more employers to work with us so that the new Foundation Degrees are a true representation of what the industry needs," said Gareth James, one of the industry champions. His own experience spans a 30-year career in senior operations roles at BP. He is also a former Cogent board member and previous chair of Humber Chemical Focus.
"Current higher education provision is predominantly aimed at full-time study, with few work-based routes for those already in work to gain or enhance their skills," he added. "By working as a consortium with other sector partners, we seek to ensure that these new work-based degrees reflect the needs of employers and employees."
Each industry champion is working alongside a partner university to develop the course content and delivery mechanism for their particular sector – course content will be shared with other universities around the country.
The universities chosen to deliver Working Higher, under the leadership of the University of Hull, are: University of Kent (Bioscience), Manchester Metropolitan University (Chemicals), University of Central Lancashire (Nuclear), London Metropolitan University (Polymers), and University of Hull (Refining and Petrochemical Engineering.)
Employers who want to get involved can contact Gareth James on williamgarethjames@supanet.com, or Pauline Maden at Cogent on pauline.maden@cogent-ssc.com.
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Author
Laura Cork
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