Leeds principal on skills shortages as UTC deadline looms

“PEOPLE still have this image of industry that involves satanic mills,” said Mark Kennedy, principal of Leeds City Region’s first University Technical College, as the deadline looms for its first applicants.

Set for an official launch in September 2016, the college will be welcoming students from across the region, focusing on advanced manufacturing and engineering, and attempting to change that perception.

Leeds UTC is an £11m development, and partial redevelopment of a grade II-listed factory on Hunslet Road, an apt location for an academy focused on regenerating the manufacturing and engineering sectors. 

The UTC was developed by an industry-led steering board to tackle skills shortages specific to the region, and bridge the “disconnect between education and employers,” The UTC has linked up with employers such as Unilever and Siemens already.

With funding based on the number of applicants by the end of March, the pressure is on to get the word out and attract as many students as possible, but with the global collapse in demand for steel and downsizing in manufacturing, which led to the cutting of 900 jobs at a Yorkshire steelworks only this year, and problems in construction stemming from recession-level budgets and shortages, on the surface, it looks to be a difficult picture.

Mr Kennedy said that in comparison to schools, more students from UTCs go to university and on to apprenticeships than a standard secondary school, though as you chose to go to a UTC it might be unsurprising.

But, Mr Kennedy said that the perception of manufacturing belies the growing optimism in the sector. He said: “These industries are not helped by the national press who seem intent on portraying engineering and manufacturing as areas in decline, areas where there aren’t careers.

“People still have this image of engineering and manufacturing as of satanic mills and oily cloths. But there are a huge range of definitions, and some of the manufacturing we’re getting involved with is clean, design-orientated and advanced.”

A report from trade magazine The Manufacturer called criticism of younger generations in terms of work ethic “cliched” but it does acknowledge that those entering industry are often poorly prepared: an issue that Mr Kennedy and the Leeds UTC is keen to address.

Mr Kennedy said: “It is important that people are technically competent as well as having their GCSEs in maths and english, but for some, too much time can be spent on trying to get grades on paper and not on other skills. It’s understandable, schools are pushed in that direction and that’s where their focus is, but not with a UTC.”