Sheffield’s first university technical college (UTC), built by Wales Construction, has opened its doors in a new £9.9m building which has been designed to help equip pupils for the world of work.
The UTC Sheffield will combine traditional academic teaching for 14 to 19-year olds, with specialised technical education in advanced engineering and manufacturing and the creative and digital industries. These areas have been identified as being vital for growth both regionally and nationally.
The new facility located on Shoreham Street in Sheffield City Centre is one of 12 new university technical colleges which have opened across the country this year. This year’s first intake includes 138 Year 12, and 102 Year 10 students. Next year the number of student places will increase to 600 students.
Principal for UTC Sheffield, Nick Crew said: “I am delighted at now being in the UTC Sheffield building with the full staff team and our students. The building, resources and curriculum planning are extremely impressive and will help to have a real impact on the future region’s young people and economic growth in our two focus areas.”
The facility is fitted with £1m of specialist equipment including Raspberry Pi workshops for creating and testing technology, engineering mini factories and advanced Apple Mac design suites. It also comprises of hi-tech studios for digital and creative media projects including music and sound technology, animation, film and photography.
The facility includes the restored Victorian former Sydney Works building, which was once a silversmiths and now houses part of the digital and creative department. It also features a roof-top sports pitch, with space at a premium in its city centre location.
For some of the working week pupils’ will begin work at 8.30am until 5pm and the work they carry out will involve regular interaction with the employers who are signed up to support the UTC.
“The whole drive behind the UTC has been to give pupils not just the technical skills they need to work in their chosen area but also the wider skills they will need in the workplace” added Mr Crew.
The national diploma qualifications pupils study for will involve a series of challenges and projects set by employers. Mr Crew said that by the time pupils who start at 14 leave the college they could have four years’ worth of industry experience.
Key supporters of UTC Sheffield include Siemens, Rolls Royce, Newburgh Engineering, Sheffield Forgemasters, Tata Steel, the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing, Performance Engineered Solutions, Warp Films, Team Cooper Games, Edumake technology, Visionmix and Resolve IT.
The UTC Sheffield is run by the UTC Sheffield Academy Trust. The UTC has been sponsored and led by The Sheffield College with the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Sheffield Hallam University as co-sponsors.
Sheffield City Council started the application, and is providing the land on 125-year occupancy at a peppercorn rent. The UTC Sheffield was designed HLM Architects and has been funded by the Department for Education.
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