Chamber gives unanimous backing to UTC project after lesson in how new school aims to ease skills shortage

THE Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce gave its unanimous backing to plans for the Ron Dearing University Technology College (UTC) at its recent Chamber Council meeting.

Charlie Spencer, chairman of the Spencer Group, updated the Council on the £10-million UTC’s progress and what it will mean for the Humber’s skills agenda.

Mr Spencer told the meeting he was a local lad from Anlaby who started his business from his front room 25 years ago. He didn’t do well at school, which in part, is why he believes the UTCs are a concept worth backing.

The idea came from Ron Dearing and the then Education Secretary, Kenneth Baker, in the 1990s and has been championed by another former Education Secretary – Hull West and Hessle MP Alan Johnson. It will eventually see students leaving education with skills specialisms relevant to local businesses equipping students to go straight into work.

The meeting heard that as many engineers reach retirement age, there is a looming skills shortage for key industries. UTCs teach the National Curriculum, but also skills, and take students from the ages of 14-18 who study a specialist subject, receive mentoring and work experience.

Mr Spencer said: “The Hull UTC is named after Ron Dearing, a local lad who did very well for himself and became a Lord. Members of the UTC named after him include Siemens, E-Buyer, KC, the Spencer Group, Hull City Council and the University of Hull”.

Students attending the new facility will study Mechatronics, a mix of mechanical and electrical engineering which includes digital control systems and computer engineering, filling a crucial gap for businesses which currently have difficulty finding employees with these skills.

Local employers will be urged to give UTC students an interview when they are recruiting new staff. Mr Spencer said he hopes the UTC will produce future employees who are a better fit for businesses.

Speaking at his first Chamber Council meeting, Finbarr Dowling from Siemens, explained that the UTC will have 150 students in each year group and there will be four year groups, totalling 600 students in all – which means 150 students a year will be graduating from the UTC work ready.

They can then go into apprenticeships, internships and take any number of other vocational directions.

Mr Dowling said Siemens supports similar schemes all over the UK which give students a vocational education, building robots, doing work experience and learning the skills to make them work ready.

He said he wants Hull’s UTC to be the best in Britain and there is no reason that shouldn’t be the case. He paid tribute to staff at Hull City Council who he said have been tremendous in their support, and also thanked Hull College for helping with the initiative. “We now have a lot of work to do to publicise the UTC and make it aspirational for young people to attend.

“We have identified a preferred site, the Government will build the school and we will look to appoint a principal designate. The Curriculum will be designed by businesses and there will be no homework – all the learning will be done on site”.

Students at the Hull UTC will do their GCSEs in English, Maths and a science subject, and to enter the sixth form they will need five A* to C grade qualifications.

Students, or Screenagers, as Mr Dowling referred to them, and their parents interested in finding out more about the Ron Dearing UTC, can register their interest on the website, www.rondearingutc.com.

The Chamber Council gave its unanimous backing to the Ron Dearing UTC which is expected to be open by 2017.