New College Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway College selected to be part of WorldSkills UK Centre of Excellence
New College Lanarkshire (@NCLanarkshire) and Dumfries and Galloway College (@DandGCollege) have been selected to be part of the @WorldSkillsUK Centre of Excellence in the first year, alongside a further 18 colleges from across the rest of the UK.
The Centre of Excellence, which is organised in partnership with education and skills charity NCFE, has been established to mainstream world-class standards in skills development in the UK, and will also play an important role in supporting the development of higher technical standards across qualifications and assessment development.
The work will be led by WorldSkills UK High-Performance Skills Coaches, who are all experienced WorldSkills UK Training Managers.
They will capture learnings from international competitions and use these to coach and mentor educators at both New College Lanarkshire and Dumfries and Galloway College, who will share this knowledge across the sector, ensuring students perform to international high standards of excellence in their skills.
Commenting on the Announcement, outlined today (Monday), Shona Struthers, Chief Executive of Colleges Scotland, said:
“I warmly welcome the news that two of Scotland’s colleges have been chosen to work with the Centre of Excellence. This provides a unique opportunity to bring world-class skills to apprentices and students at colleges in Scotland, which will also be key in combating the economic impact of COVID-19, which we know is set to have a disproportionate impact on opportunities for young people”.
“It is initiatives such as these that are vital to supporting a skills-led recovery, enabling Scotland’s colleges to work with other colleges across the UK in supporting more young people and their employers to succeed, whilst building on the consistent and considerable success that Scotland’s colleges have had across the WorldSkills competitions”.
Martin McGuire, WorldSkills UK Director, Scotland said:
“I’m delighted that a range of colleges in Scotland applied to be part of this ground-breaking initiative and I congratulate Dumfries and Galloway College and New College Lanarkshire on gaining entry to the first phase of the programme. This demonstrates a commitment to excellence and a willingness to embed international best practice within our sector.”
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