New remote learning opportunities to be explored

Gower College Swansea has signed a partnership agreement with the Open University in Wales (OU) that will see a wider range of flexible and distance learning opportunities being offered to higher level learners across the Swansea Bay region.

The partnership will cover four main elements – developing new degree apprenticeships and university level programmes, the piloting of a HE progression pathway for access and foundation degree students, and employee upskilling.

Gower College Swansea has a dedicated University Centre at its Tycoch Campus and will now look to expand its range of higher education courses, which currently include foundation and undergraduate degrees, by utilising OU online resources.

Meanwhile staff at the College would have the option to use the OU’s OpenLearn platform to aid their professional development. OpenLearn includes a platform of free courses which the OU would be able to adapt to meet any identified skills gaps.

“We are really excited by the possibilities this collaboration will open up for our students and our staff,” says the College’s Deputy Principal, Nick Brazil.

“Due to current global events, it’s really important that we develop our provision of remote learning opportunities and linking up with the Open University in Wales in this way is a really positive step forward.”

“For over 50 years, the OU has been bringing learning into people’s homes and, in that time, we’ve become everyone’s local university,” adds Louise Casella, Director of The Open University in Wales.

“We’re here to open up learning to more and more people who may be looking for more flexible ways to develop their skills – that’s why our relationship with colleges and their staff and students is so important. This new partnership will give us the chance to work with Gower College Swansea in an area of Wales which is teeming with potential and to support people in gaining a university qualification and realising their ambitions in a way that’s right for them.”