£2 MILLION worth of state-of-the-art advanced engineering facilities have officially launched at Gloucestershire College.

The STEM facilities project received the funding to encourage more of Gloucestershire’s students and apprentices into a career in the advanced engineering and manufacturing sector.

Gloucestershire College works with over 14,500 students and 600 apprentices and is now delivering STEM skills to 3,000 local students.

They are working even more closely with local businesses to deliver the exact skills that there is a high demand for within the county to their students, to close the skills gap between business and education.

David Owen, chief executive of GFirst LEP, said: “It is great news for Gloucestershire’s students and businesses that our colleges are now able to encourage local students to learn more about a career in STEM subjects.

“Through the £2 million of investment into the innovative STEM facilities in Gloucestershire, local colleges will be able support over 5,000 students across the whole county.

“Our local colleges have worked extremely hard with GFirst LEP to gain the substantial funds in the recent Gloucestershire Growth Deal, and the investment at the Gloucestershire College campuses will enable further development in higher level engineering programmes for students and apprentices.”

Matthew Burgess, principal of Gloucestershire College said: “Engineering has long been part of the heritage of the College and the local area.

“As such, it is really important that the College responds to what local businesses need. These new facilities will make a big difference not only to the students that come through our door, but also to employers in the local area.”

Gloucestershire College is currently working on a number of trailblazer apprenticeship schemes with local businesses including GE Aviation, Ultra Electronics and Renishaw, all of which are seeing apprentices gain foundation degree qualifications, leaving them with a great skills base and prospects for the future.

GFirst LEP, Gloucestershire’s Local Enterprise Partnership, brings together businesses to make the county successful and create jobs.

It is led by the business community in partnership with the education and public sectors to help Gloucestershire realise its economic potential.