New College Nottingham is ploughing more than £140 million into matching its students’ skills with the future needs of the city. Education Correspondent Marcus Boocock reports...

---

EMPLOYERS in Nottingham are concerned that people are leaving full-time education without the skills they need.

Meanwhile, many job seekers in the city feel let down by the education system.

But New College Nottingham is determined to do something about that – so much so that it has announced plans to spend £47 million a year over the next three years on making sure its students leave with the skills they need to go straight into the world of work.

College principal Amarjit Basi has wasted little time in making the radical move following his arrival at the college last September.

He has gone back to the drawing board, doing away with the college's existing systems and replacing them with a completely new structure.

He has worked with various organisations across Nottingham to pinpoint the city's major growth areas, including construction, the energy sector and media, and reshaped the curriculum around them.

The college's old faculties have been disbanded and replaced by five "clusters".

Each cluster will have three to four departments within it, known as academies, with some of the city's top employers working with them.

Mr Basi said: "We have seen which areas are growing in the city and felt that, as a college, we should design our curriculum around that.

"We feel this is vital for the future of our students and for the city of Nottingham."

The changes form the college's Statement of Strategic Intent, which has been drawn up after studying the city council's growth plan, announced earlier this month.

The growth plan laid out which sectors the council feels are likely to play a major part in Nottingham's future.

Research released today by training provider LearnDirect shows that 88 per cent of city employers rate workplace skills as a top priority, while 37 per cent of job seekers in Nottingham felt let down by the formal education system as it did not prepare them for the job market.

Peter Shufflebotham, head of learning at LearnDirect, said: "Employers are looking for people who can fit in and get on with the job from the very start. So job seekers should be doing everything they can to make sure they have the skills and knowledge to do all those things."

The college's new clusters hope to change that.

Companies which have already expressed an interest in working with the college are E.on and tourism body Experience Nottinghamshire.

Keith Laird, business development manager for Experience Nottinghamshire, said: "Tourism is a strong economic driver, already creating over 20,000 full-time equivalent jobs in the county. We're encouraged that New College Nottingham is taking this into account in the development of its curriculum."

The £141m, which is coming from the college's own budget, will be spent on teaching and resources. It will all take place in the college's current buildings, which are spread over several campuses.

Nearly half of the £47 million the college is putting in annually will go to its curriculum for 16 to 18-year-olds, where it aims to work with firms to provide clear pathways into work for students.

Meanwhile, it is looking to open up more chances for degrees and other higher education courses in the light of universities charging up to £9,000 a year for fees.

Much of the work it does will be to promote self-employment and enterprise, which is something the council's growth plan has identified.

Mr Basi, who took over from previous principal Geoff Hall last summer, added: "We feel we are leading the way in setting up a curriculum which supports the growth targets of the local authority.

"It is vital that we provide students who are ready for the world of work and can be successful in the modern world. The world is changing and we must change too if we are to meet the challenges and opportunities of our time."

City council deputy leader Councillor Graham Chapman, said: "We think it's great that the college is lining up its curriculum with areas which need skilled workers. It is going to benefit everyone."