Newcastle College praised for investment in STEM facilities

A local educational institute has received praise for its investments in its new STEM facilities.

Newcastle College has been praised for its investment efforts in its recently built facilities by MP and shadow digital minister, Chi Onwurah, when the College welcomed her for a tour of its upgraded STEM facilities.

The tour of the facilities follows the launch of Newcastle College’s Strategy to 2030 earlier this year, which includes an aim to provide more vocational STEM education in and investment of over £650k into STEM facilities, including the Digital Hub.

The Digital Hub forms part of the College’s Synergy Hub, which brings together an Apprenticeships Hub, The Enterprise Hub and Solutions for Business and curriculum design departments. It will support Newcastle College’s target to produce 100 digital graduates annually by 2025 to support the local digital scene.

Ms Onwurah MP, commented: “It’s encouraging to see that the facilities at Newcastle College have not only improved with evident investment but have been set up in a way that will support the region’s business objectives and support people into meaningful employment.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for the College to contribute to closing skills gaps across the region. I welcome their commitment to strive for gender balance across its STEM provision, though there is still a lot of work to be done.”

This year, the College has welcomed 400 students on digital courses across all provision and has recently launched Go Reboot Plus in partnership with Sunderland Software City, a free-to-access digital training programme for unemployed adults living in North Tyneside.

Scott Bullock, principal at Newcastle College said: “STEM is a huge part of our wider 10-year Strategy as we know it not only offers lots of opportunities for our students but will support our region to continue to grow in sectors such as digital and engineering.

“We’ve put a huge amount of work and investment into the 10-year Strategy and truly believe it has the potential to leave a lasting impact on the North East business landscape by producing confident, high-quality graduates and positive employer links.

“Our focus now will be to build on that progress, with particular focus on addressing the gender balance within STEM that has been rightly highlighted by the Minister. This is a recognised issue across the sector and as educators it is our role to encourage and provide opportunities for everybody. We are more than ready to meet that challenge.”