Newcastle College playing a central role in Green Skills revolution

Newcastle College (@NCLCollege) welcomed Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change Minister Anne Marie Trevelyan (@annietrev) to its Energy Academy. The visit comes after The Green Jobs Taskforce issued its government backed report, to which Alan Goundry, Head of Energy at Newcastle College has contributed. 

The minister and co-chair of the Green Jobs Taskforce toured the award-winning facilities and met with students and tutors. Ms Trevelyan said: “The North East’s world-leading history in engineering and in delivering industrial revolutions means we’re well placed to be a really important part of delivering that green revolution, helping us to develop all the tools we need to de-carbonise our homes and the way we travel. 

“We have some of the greatest universities in the country in the North East and colleges like this – all of that is critically important to develop the amazing people we’re going to need.” 

The visit and College’s inclusion in the taskforce is helping to ensure that further education plays an active role in the UK’s green economy. Formed to set the direction for the job market as the UK transitions to a high-skill, low carbon economy, The Green Jobs Taskforce released its government backed report on 14th July. The report firmly placed skills and education at the centre of its 15 recommendations. 

Alan Goundry said: “The report is clear in its conclusion that we must develop a comprehensive and holistic view of the green jobs and skills challenge. The taskforce is asserting that ‘every job has the potential to be green’ and with that being the case, we need to ensure that education, skills and training is embedded at every level of education – including further education. Through education and skills, we can develop a climate-conscious workforce to help the UK meet its ambitious target of 2 million green jobs by 2030. As the only FE college on the taskforce, we’re proud to represent further education and the North East and the key role that we can play in the green skills agenda and we will be using the findings of the taskforce report as we continue to develop innovative and relevant skills training and qualifications that will support the growth of the sector and the local and national transition to Net Zero. 

Students at Newcastle College’s Energy Academy can study qualifications in renewable and subsea, welding and fabrication, offshore renewables and subsea and renewable energy engineering. The College also partners with employers such as Port of Blyth, Maersk Training and Catapult ORE, giving students first-hand experience of the sector and opportunities to train in unrivalled training facilities and real working environments.