Several FE colleges to deploy Bodyswaps’ latest career development simulations

Bodyswaps is proud to announce its partnership with Writtle University College (@WrittleOfficial), Harlow College (@HarlowCollege), South Essex College (@SouthEssexColl), Bridgend College (@BridgendCollege), Sandwell College (@sandwellcollege) and the London Screen Academy (@LSA) to pilot its new Career Mindset Development programme. 

As part of a grant received from Ufi VocTech Trust, Bodyswaps is developing an immersive learning solution which will enable Further Education students to practise their job interview and professional communication skills with engaging, safe and realistic virtual reality scenarios.  Furthermore, students will get valuable performance feedback from their career advisor through Bodyswaps’ newly launched Career App.

“In today’s climate, it can be especially daunting for anyone just starting out,” said Bodyswaps CEO Christophe Mallet. “Employers expect candidates to arrive in the workplace with ready-made soft skills. With Bodyswaps, students get the opportunity to practise and perfect those all-important soft skills in a psychologically safe environment.”

Throughout the Career Mindset Development programme, Bodyswaps is working closely with its partners to measure engagement and learning performance with a view to deploying the programme at scale for the Further Education market later this year. 

“At Ufi VocTech Trust we know that getting cutting edge technology making a difference for adult learners requires strong partnerships between innovative ventures like Bodyswaps and educators in colleges, training providers, and workplaces. This strong partnership with several colleges and academies will allow Bodyswaps to support learners to develop their soft and interpersonal skills using Bodyswaps’ distinctive VR-based learning model, bringing the benefits of high-end soft skills training to everybody,” Joe Ludlow, Impact Investment Director, Ufi Ventures.

“Bodyswaps is a fantastic opportunity for our students as it allows learners to practise communication skills in a safe setting and provides them with the opportunity to reflect and challenge how they present to others. It takes away the anxiety of that ‘first meeting’ and, especially in the current climate, continues to develop our learners ability to perfect how they are perceived by others without any of the risks. We are very excited to be part of this virtual reality pilot and hope to expand this across to other curriculum areas,” Nicki Kelly, Assistant Curriculum Principal, South Essex College.

“We are excited to be working with Bodyswaps to help them pilot their innovative new VR software. Through this partnership, students at Sandwell College will become some of the first in the country to trial a fun and engaging new tool to help them develop the soft skills they need for the workplace. We believe that this novel use of VR stands to transform the way we deliver learning and will help tackle the employability skills gap that many young people face,” Anne Scrimshaw, Fab Lab Manager, Sandwell College.

“Bodyswaps is a tremendous opportunity for our learners to enter into, and make judgements on behaviour in the workplace through virtual reality and for Harlow College to be part of an exciting new venture that so well matches our strapline Not just courses. Careers,” David Monk,  E-Learning Development Coordinator, Harlow College.

“Bridgend College is excited to be part of the innovative employability pilot with Bodyswaps and are looking forward to our students developing their soft skills by engaging in the exciting world of Virtual Reality,” Steve Jones, Careers Leader, Bridgend College.

“We are very excited to be trialing the new Virtual Reality approach from Bodyswaps. At London Screen Academy we are on a mission to give students the technical knowledge and skills to succeed, and Bodyswaps is one of a number of interventions we are implementing in order to equip our students with the professional behaviour they need to thrive in the screen industries,” Jamie Waller, Assistant Principal Teaching and Learning, London Screen Academy.