Last updated at 11:44, Thursday, 22 April 2010

ALREADY on the cusp of an exciting £40m extension, Furness College in Barrow is champing at the bit to play a part in county ambitions to be Britain’s Energy Coast™

Title
Author
Copyright

Description

Deputy Principal Curriculum Mark Nicholson is ex-apprentice who worked in the engineering division of former VSEL before moving into education.

He has been at Furness College for 22 years and is a lecturer in electrical installation.

He says the college, with its growing apprentice population and its new chartered engineering degrees, is well positioned to play a dynamic part in the energy coast.

Mark said: “I think the Energy Coast is a great idea for building on the skills that we already possess. We have got a great deal to offer already and I would like to see us being an active player within the Energy Coast.”

In any one year the college deals with more than 700 apprentices, many working for BAE, which runs the town shipyards and armaments factory. He said: “I can't comment on BAE Apprenticeship recruitment patterns for the future, but given current government policy around apprenticeships, coupled with our new build, I would expect the college apprentice cohort to grow by 20 per cent by the time the expansion of the college is finished in 2013.

“In addition to apprentices the college has 800 young people and 200 adults on full-time courses. Of this number around 350 are studying programmes in engineering and construction. Many of the young people will look to progress into employment through a variety of apprenticeship routes. The college has over 500 higher education students, half of them on engineering HNCs and degrees.”

Mark said: “Cumbria and Barrow in particular has a strong tradition of apprenticeship training going back a long way.”

Since BAE took over the shipyard, which specialises in building nuclear powered submarines, investment in new young blood has shot up and the company now has more than 450 young people going through their apprenticeships.

In addition to managing apprentice schemes for firms who have recruited young people, Furness College takes fulltime students in engineering who then apply for a range of apprenticeships while at the college. BAE takes some of that intake as well.

The college has around 80 construction apprentices under the Construction Industry Training Board schemes each year. It is also responsible for apprentices for the Expro undersea cable connectors factory in Ulverston, and for the Centrica gas terminals complex at Barrow.

The college would also be able to provide skilled training for any gearing up of wind turbine industry if manufacturing operations moved into Cumbria.

The gas storage and carbon capture under the seabed of the Irish Sea off the coast mooted by several projects, are other areas he feels the college could provide skill training for, both apprenticeships and to chartered engineering degree level. The college moved up a notch this year by turning out its first cohort of 16 chartered engineers, 10 of them with first class honours.

The college has also worked with BAE – which already has nuclear skills through its building and commissioning of nuclear powered submarines in Barrow – and Lancaster University, and the UK nuclear authorities looking at establishing a nuclear foundation degree incorporating work based activities.

The college would expect to play a part if RWE npower got clearance to build a nuclear power station at Kirksanton, which is within the college’s catchment area.

Initially it would be construction skills and then nuclear skills that would be required.

Mark is confident a government of whatever colour will stick with the commitment to apprentice training in the UK.

At the same time more young people are opting for apprentice option in which they are paid to learn and are not left with a big student loan debt.

First published at 13:11, Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk