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We are proud to be working in collaboration with the following delivery partners
Dudley College of Technology
Dudley College of Technology is one of the most successful further education colleges in the UK, providing a wide range of education and training programmes across the West Midlands.
With a large estate centred on the Dudley Learning Quarter, providing inspirational facilities, in which students can access world-leading technology, we are at the forefront of further education.
We enrol around 12,000 students each year across 4,000 academic and vocational programmes, on both a full and part-time basis the college’s provision continues to develop as a response to the ever changing skills agenda. Success rates for students, across all programmes, are on or significantly above national benchmarks.
We offer courses in a wide range of subject areas and provides education and training for apprentices, advanced apprentices, international and workplace students. We have extensive links with employers on a local, regional and national basis offering a diverse range of business improvement and employee skills updating programmes. We also offer a number of employability programmes to help adults return to work.
We are the biggest provider of Apprenticeships within the West Midlands Combined Authority area, delivering 27% of all college-delivered Apprenticeships. In 2019/20 we supported over 4,000 apprentices of which 1,379 were young people aged16-18 years. We are committed to supporting the local economy, with 52% of our apprentices studying in LEP transformational sectors. Most strikingly, 67% of all apprentices in advanced manufacturing in the Black Country study here at Dudley College. As also the largest college provider of Apprenticeships in the wider West Midlands region and one of the largest nationally, our apprentices achieve at a rate significantly above national rates. A very high percentage of our apprentices progress to higher Apprenticeships and degree level programmes.
Over 95% our 16-18 year old full-time students move on to higher/further education or employment. For those who study A Levels with us 80% choose to continue to the full-range of universities, or if staying local move on to our own higher education courses.
In February 2020 we were awarded the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in recognition of our contribution to the economy of the West Midlands through large scale advanced vocational and technical education. Our Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Assured (STEM) ® status is also recognition that we are delivering high-quality education and training in all of these areas. The college employs some 800 staff and has an annual turnover of circa £52 million.
University of Worcester
The University of Worcester is very pleased and honoured to be a key partner of the Black Country & Marches Institute of Technology. The imaginative initiative to create the Institute is one the University whole-heartedly supports.
Worcester is a long-standing contributor to the skilled workforce of Dudley, particularly in education and health. Known since 1946 for the excellence of our teaching training, many Worcester educated teachers inspire children in Dudley schools. In the 21st Century more and more of our nurses and midwives have chosen to work at Russells Hall hospital and in other health settings; whilst in recent years our paramedics have made a bigger and bigger contribution in Dudley, as well as the Black Country and the West Midlands more broadly. Our highly effective educational partnership with Dudley College, which is one of the country’s truly outstanding colleges, has been crucial to this contribution and will be even more so in the future as we work together to create more opportunities and grow the skilled workforce.
In July 2020, the University of Worcester was awarded the largest allocation in the UK of additional places to educate future health professionals. Many of these future nurses, midwives, occupational therapists, paramedics and physiotherapists will come from Dudley and will work in Dudley. All will benefit from the high educational quality combined with highly inclusive approach for which Worcester has become so well known.
Expertise in Healthcare Education
The University of Worcester is recognised as one of the country’s leading educators of healthcare professionals, from nurses and midwives, to paramedics and physiotherapists.
With a reputation for the highest quality provision, partnership working and delivery, the university plays a leading role in researching and developing innovative and creative solutions in health and wellbeing, such as establishing the UK’s first Masters in Physician Associates, to help meet the changing needs of the health service.
Worcester is shortlisted for the most awards of any UK university in the 2020 Student Nursing Times Awards – eight in total. These OSCARS of Nursing Education include shortlisting Worcester for a record sixth time for Nurse Education Provider of the Year (Pre-registration), as well as Best Student Experience and Teaching Innovation of the Year. Worcester’s approach, combining inclusion with high quality, has led to many other awards, including number one in the UK for both Quality Education and Gender Equality in the 2019 University Impact Rankings (THE). In 2020, Worcester is shortlisted for University of the Year in the UK Social Mobility Awards, for the second year running, and was globally commended for its work on sustainability at the United Nations after being named UK and Ireland Sustainability Institution of the Year 2019 in the Green Gown Awards.
The university works in close cooperation with many employers, including the NHS, County Councils and a wide range of voluntary and private sector employers. Worcester graduates are in the top 10 for employability UK-wide and have been throughout the last 10 years.
We are convinced that the development of the Black Country & Marches Institute of Technology and working ever more closely with Dudley College will bring many fresh opportunities for the people of Dudley and we pledge to do our very best to make a full, worthwhile contribution to the success of the Institute and thus to the flourishing of Dudley and its people.
Avensys
Avensys UK Ltd is a global leader in the supply of Bio-Medical Engineering Services. Established in 2007 as a Medical Engineering company providing repair and maintenance to medical facilities, the company’s service offering now includes medical engineering training, supply of new and pre-owned equipment, medical device storage and medical device financing. In 2017 Avensys was purchased by VAMED; a multinational business of global proportions operating in the healthcare sector on projects ranging from medical equipment maintenance to hospital construction. Of particular interest to VAMED was the Avensys Training Academy, whose knowledge and experience in Bio-Medical Engineering could be of enormous benefit to the rest of the VAMED group. Similarly, when selecting an employer partner, the Institute of Technology was quick to recognise the benefits to be had by partnering with a company considered to be peerless in its ability to deliver industry training in the specialised field of medical engineering.
In recent months there has been an unprecedented demand for medical devices, ranging from anaesthetic machines to thermometers. This has in turn brought the role of medical engineering in to focus and has highlighted the fact that many hospitals do not have the in-house resources to cope with periods of high demand. Avensys’ partnership with the IoT will enable NHS Trusts to ‘grow their own’ talent from within, reducing reliance on manufacturers and simultaneously enabling them to lower costs associated with OEM service contracts. The partnership will enable both parties to deliver the modules that match their areas of expertise, resulting in a fantastic opportunity for students. Whilst the proximity of the IoT and Avensys’ Kidderminster head office affords a close working relationship, the reach of this partnership is truly National and will bring a much needed new generation of medical engineers in to hospitals across the UK.
