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Major boost for workforce development

The University is to get a £5.13m funding boost to develop new relationships with employers and support business growth and workforce development in the region.

The grant is by far the biggest announced by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). It follows our success in developing new courses for major organisations such as the health service, police and chemical industry.

Announcing the awards, worth £8.3m in total to three universities, Professor David Eastwood, HEFCE Chief Executive, said: ‘The projects we are funding today reflect the changing and quickening pace of employer engagement, which is now becoming part of the core business of higher education.’

Our £5.13m award is to deliver a significant institutional change programme to develop as a major business-facing institution, and deliver programmes supported by employers. HEFCE will also provide additional funding for courses co-funded with employers. In our case this is expected to bring in another £4.5m to enable to 3,000 employees to take advantage of new higher education and learning opportunities. Employers will be asked to contribute a further £3.3m to support the programmes over the next three years, making the total package worth £13m to us.

The other successful universities winning a share of the funding announced today are Staffordshire – awarded £3m - and Cumbria – awarded £188,000. Worcester College of Technology is also to benefit from additional student numbers.

HEFCE says it is supporting these projects to increase the capacity of the higher education sector to respond to employer needs and to generate co-funding from employers. The projects will deliver higher education programmes tailor-made for collaborating companies. Most will be for part-time study, often delivered in the workplace.

Professor Cliff Allan, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Development) at the University of º£½ÇÖ±²¥, said: ‘The Strategic Development Fund grant is a key element in our strategy to become a leading business-facing university. We’ll be working with employers on a wide range of professional development programmes, particularly in leadership and management, and developing new courses with process industry partners to keep workforce skills and qualifications at the cutting edge.’ 

The University of º£½ÇÖ±²¥â€™s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Graham Henderson, said: ‘This is a £13m vote of confidence in our strategy  to become a leading employer-facing university.’

Professor Paul Keane, Dean of the University’s School of Health & Social Care, said: ‘We’re very pleased for the University that our track record in employer-engagement has helped º£½ÇÖ±²¥ win this major grant from HEFCE.’

He cited two new courses developed over the last year with the health service as examples of what his had developed with employers – the Foundation Degree in Paramedic Science developed with the ambulance service in the North East and Yorkshire and the Postgraduate Certificate in Advanced Commissioning for chief executives and senior health service managers.

º£½ÇÖ±²¥ Business School and the University’s School of Science & Technology are expected to play leading roles in developing º£½ÇÖ±²¥â€™s new co-funded programmes with employers.

Alastair Thomson, Dean of º£½ÇÖ±²¥ Business School, said: ‘We have one of the best track records in the sector for working innovatively alongside employers to create a highly-trained workforce, equipped to deliver real business results.  The Business School’s partnership with the North East Chamber of Commerce to develop business leaders' financial, marketing and leadership skills is just one example of our success in this specialised field. The new grant from HEFCE gives us the funding to develop more programmes which build on the successful model we have proven to work for real world organisations.’

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