Skills Development
Graduate and post-graduate
For skills development in energy at graduate and post-graduate level, undergraduate (BSc/ BEng/ MEng) and postgraduate (MSc) skills development programmes are well developed at all five universities in the region.
All universities produce a steady stream of engineering PhD graduates, and given that graduate retention is higher in the North East than in any other UK region except London, this represents a major resource for employers.
Schools and further education colleges
The CBI and the North East Chamber of Commerce are actively working with the Local Education Authorities and individual schools / academies on programmes which encourage students to consider engineering careers.
The region’s Further Education (FE) colleges offer an array of heavily subscribed courses on energy topics, including offshore energy (South Tyneside College), construction, and renewable energy (Northumberland, Newcastle and Redcar & Cleveland). Northumberland College’s unique ‘Wind Skills’ Course is currently expanding to cope with demand which amounts to an over subscription of four times the levels of interest originally anticipated. Lessons learned in that sector are being taken into account in planning the FE components of the major GREAT Institute development.
In another National initiative NEPIC together with Cogent, the sector skills council have gained approval to take forward the Process Industry National Skills Academy (PINSA) with the backing of industry. North East companies have pledged £500,000 to support this initiative.
