Young people in South Wales are set to benefit from a radical new approach to delivering high level skills following the induction of Coleg Gwent to the WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence programme, it was announced yesterday (21 September).
Launched by WorldSkills UK in partnership with education and skills charity NCFE, the Centre of Excellence programme will mainstream world-class standards in skills development, raising standards of apprenticeships and technical training across the UK.
Parisa Shirazi, Head of skills development and international competition at WorldSkills UK, said: “This is a milestone moment – a unique opportunity for Coleg Gwent to work with colleges across the UK and join the dawn of a skills revolution.
“Working with the staff at Coleg Gwent we will champion a skills-led recovery, which is driven by international benchmarking and rightly values high-quality apprenticeships and technical education, to enable all young people to develop the employability skills that will provide them with a rewarding future.”
Using NCFE’s expertise in curriculum development and drawing on its unique insights into global skills systems through its membership of WorldSkills – the global hub for skills excellence – WorldSkills UK will coach and mentor staff at Coleg Gwent to embed world-class practises and techniques in their teaching, learning and assessment practices across their 5 campuses in Gwent. By creating a cadre of world-class educators, all students at Coleg Gwent will benefit from the highest quality training.
In addition to its work with Further Education Colleges throughout the UK, the WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence programme will also play an important role in supporting the development of higher technical standards across qualifications and assessment development.
Principal Guy Lacey commented; “We’re delighted to be one of the twenty FE colleges selected to form the new WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence programme in partnership with NCFE, putting skills training and opportunities centre stage. We’re so proud of our learners who have successfully competed in WorldSkills competitions year after year, and we’re committed to delivering excellent teaching programmes and developing world-class skills at Coleg Gwent. We have a thriving community of vocational learners across our five campuses, and being part of the WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence programme is a fantastic opportunity to further enhance our skills training by sharing best practice and providing learners the opportunity to learn from the very best.”
