Coventry battles skills gap before City of Culture 2021 status

Arts minister John Glen reveals Coventry as the 2021 UK City of Culture (Credit: BBC)

The UK’s skills shortage is felt by employers and FE institutions across the UK, but with the anticipated job creation City of Culture 2021 will bring to Coventry, pressure to close the gap is mounting.

The City of Culture status is seen as a “catalyst for massive change” across health and education reform, according to Susie Murphy, Development Manager from the Positive Youth Foundation, and will see more change in the next four years than would typically be seen in 30.

But the city must be prepared, said Peter Brammall, principal of Coventry College at its Closing the Skills Gap conference on 6th March.

“We need to ensure we’re showing young people the way and painting pictures of those opportunities better than we are now as organisation. There’s lots of work to do to make sure partnerships across the city are strong, and are sharing that vision of what opportunities can be.

Between now and 2021, around 11,000 young people will be coming through the college, according to Brammall, so it must cater for a broad range of abilities and skills.

“The big thing for me is ensuring people don’t miss out. Lots of young people that study here, and for many it’s a second chance, but also we have a range of high-fliers going to university. It’s ensuring we can continue to offer the broad offer we currently do,” Brammill said.

“I don’t want them to miss out on the unique opportunity of City of Culture, so we need to think about what this addition looks like, how it’ll fit in and help create over next few years.”

And institutions need to cater for students who are retraining, rather than just those entering the workforce.

“What we create together needs to be accessible for whole range of people with whole range of skills,” he said.

Businesses also need to play their part to ensure the city’s new status brings about change, according to Mark, Franckel, chief executive of engineering company Arlington.

“Do we whine about the skills gap, or do we change it? Towns and cities have changed. As a business owner I’ve got to get better. I’ve got to up my game.”

Brammall agreed, and said businesses must work with FE institutions.

“There are some employers who whinge about it but can’t articulate the skills gap. Do we go forward and try and fill those gaps? Or, even better, do we try and crate something in partnerships with others?”

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