#thinkUTC week to celebrate school-age technical education

The Baker Dearing Educational Trust has announced the launch of #thinkUTC week, a national campaign running from Monday 18th to Friday 22nd November.

This exciting initiative will celebrate the achievements of England’s 44 University Technical Colleges (UTCs), highlighting the secondary schools’ role in delivering top-tier technical education and strong employer engagement.

The week-long campaign will focus on the key aspects of the UTC model, particularly employer partnerships, student destinations, and technical education excellence.

Minister for Skills, Baroness Jacqui Smith says:

“University Technical Colleges make an important contribution to education and demonstrate the value of strong partnerships with employers, so I am pleased to support this initiative.

“UTCs can help equip young people with a blend of academic and technical skills that can support them in their career journeys.”

Around 21,000 young people are enrolled in UTCs as of last September and around 85 per cent of the schools are rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. In September 2023, 23 per cent of UTC leavers at age 18 progressed onto an apprenticeship versus a national average of five per cent.

Data on what destinations the 2024 UTC leavers progressed to will be released during #thinkUTC week as part of the lively schedule of events and announcements that Baker Dearing has planned and organised.

This includes visits by stakeholders to UTCs across the country and the launch of new employer projects.

Chairman of the Baker Dearing Educational Trust Lord Baker commented:

“This celebration is an excellent opportunity to highlight the outstanding work of UTC staff and supporters in progressing talented and innovative young people to the world of work.

“When Lord Dearing and I set up the UTC programme, we envisioned a means of preparing young people for employment by teaching them the skills and attributes that industry and public services needed, but were not being delivered by mainstream schools.

“UTCs are now achieving on this vision, vastly outpacing the national average for progressing young people into apprenticeships while delivering technical education to a record number of young people.”

Baker Dearing has invited its stakeholders to contribute short videos for the ‘think UTC: think…’ series. In these short videos, students, staff, employers, or stakeholders will be sharing what comes to mind when they think of a UTC. This may include career opportunities, student success stories, or unique educational experiences at their UTC.

These videos will be shared through Baker Dearing’s LinkedIn and X channels throughout the week and members of the wider education community and industry stakeholders have been invited to join in by sharing their own ‘think UTC: think…’ videos.