Advanced skills training boost for east London with Barking & Dagenham College and The Open University

Barking & Dagenham College will be part of a £10million national programme across England which will see The Open University support nine further education colleges to put on a wider range of technical courses, with the aim to support more people to secure jobs with higher wages and grow the economy in their area.

The programme is supported by the Office for Students and the Department for Education and will see Barking & Dagenham College receive specialist support from The Open University throughout the next two years to expand the number of higher education courses available in east London.

Jason Turton, Deputy Principal, Barking & Dagenham College comments:

“We are excited to be able to offer people greater opportunities to study higher level technical courses in their local area, contributing to widening participation in higher education within east London.”

Professor Tim Blackman, Vice-Chancellor of The Open University, said:

“Advanced skills training is vital to create thriving local economies, attracting new businesses, and helping others grow. Funding from the UK Government has enabled the OU to work with further education colleges to develop their technical higher education offering in their local communities. We are delighted to welcome the new colleges into the fold.”