EDINBURGH College is creating two new specialist centres to offer students real opportunities to find real jobs in 2013 and beyond. The decision to create the curriculum centres in engineering and construction trades for the academic year 2013-14 follows a pledge by the college to ensure that it offers courses directly relevant to the needs of the employment market.
Students in the specialist centres will benefit from access to a wider group of skilled, expert staff and a greater concentration of investment in one location.
One of the specialist centres, which will open in academic year 2013-14, is The Institute of Building and Crafts, which will be based at the college’s Forthside campus in Granton.
The second new specialist centres is called Engineering+ and will be based at the college’s Midlothian campus in Dalkeith. The campus has already made a name for itself with successful training programmes for the oil and gas industry, as well as a pioneering project to monitor the performance of electric vehicles – the largest of its kind in Scotland. The new centre will build on an already strong focus on clean and green technology.
Mandy Exley, Principal of Edinburgh College, said: “The document setting out the vision for the new college promised to create national curriculum hubs to provide opportunities for students to enhance their creativity, employability and entrepreneurial skills. This announcement is the start of us delivering on that promise.
“We want to bring together a range of expert staff to deliver the very best training for our young people – and our focus is very strongly on those areas where there are employment opportunities, now and in the future. Edinburgh College students doing courses at these specialist centres will be very well-placed to get good jobs in the immediate region and beyond – because the centres will be among the best in the UK.”
Ms Exley is the first Principal of Edinburgh College, created in October 2012 from a merger of three partners – Edinburgh’s Telford College, Jewel & Esk College and Stevenson College Edinburgh.
She added: “Our first responsibility is always to our students. A large part of that responsibility is offering them the right kind of education and training – to equip them with the skills that employers want in 2013 and beyond. In the current economic climate, it is more important than ever for colleges to provide a modern and innovative curriculum which matches the current and future needs of the regional economy as closely as possible.”
Steve Tinsley, Vice-Principal, Corporate Development at Edinburgh College, said: “The Midlothian campus has already developed a fantastic reputation for high-quality and innovative training in a broad range of engineering disciplines – and this move will build on that. The electric vehicle project and the solar meadow taking shape next to the campus are right at the cutting-edge of anything that is happening in Scotland and in some cases, the UK. Edinburgh College is carving out a fantastic reputation for its work in this area and the concentration of expertise allows us to build on that, delivering more opportunities for careers in renewables and the low carbon economy.”
Mandy Exley added: “The construction trades are still hugely important with a number of large projects coming on-stream. There will be a strong focus on the heritage trades, which are significant in Edinburgh.”
Engineering or construction trades courses currently provided at other locations will move to Midlothian or Granton from the start of the new academic year in September – with the exception of highly-regarded automotive and motor vehicle engineering courses at Sighthill campus.
For example, both Fabrication & Welding and Micro-Renewables will move from Granton to the new engineering hub at Midlothian, while all carpentry, joinery and construction trades currently offered in Midlothian moves to Granton. The college has stressed that there will be no impact on courses this academic year and says the changes will be implemented with the minimum of disruption.
The lease on the college’s small South Gyle campus will expire this summer and provision offered there would have had to be relocated across other campuses. It was decided that it made sense to invest in the specialist centres instead of spreading provision across all the college campuses.
All staff in the departments covered by the changes and Edinburgh College Students’ Association have been informed.
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