FUTURISTIC TRAINING KEY TO DEVELOPING NEXT GENERATION SKILLS

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Today, tomorrow’s leaders are learning skills of the future at Education Partnership North East (EPNE), a dynamic partnership between Sunderland College, Hartlepool Sixth Form College and Northumberland College.

With more than £90 million invested across the group’s facilities in the last six years, and more to come, CONTACT speaks to chief executive Ellen Thinnesen about how the North East’s largest regional group is working to stay one step ahead of industry to ensure students leave with the skills and experience to drive the future economy.

Walk around any of Education Partnership North East’s (EPNE) six campuses, and you will see transformational development projects underway.

Across all its sites – spanning Northumberland in the north of the region, to Hartlepool in the south – there
have been significant programmes of investment.

Some have been cosmetic – creating the most aspirational learning environment possible – but for the
most part, the changes taking place across the college’s estate have been driven by a desire to deliver the most advanced training available, that will drive future-focused skills to help level up the region.

“When visitors see our resources, they often comment on how business-like our campuses are – how the facilities feel like a real work environment,” says chief executive Ellen Thinnesen, who has been at the helm of the college group since 2016.

“And that’s critical. We want students to get the most authentic training possible – whether they’re studying for
a technical qualification or an academic route.

“Further education should prepare them for their next career steps.

“We can only do that if we not only prepare them for the industry of today, but for the changes that are coming down the line.

“And that means tight relationships with employers, so we are absolutely on top of what’s changing – and indeed, moving in lockstep with emerging trends that are disrupting industry, so we adapt our training in a really agile way.

“We are deeply focused on the labour market – we have to understand how it is going to change in the North East and what the requirements of businesses will be, so we can ensure the talent pipeline we create is absolutely aligned.”

Among the areas of focus at EPNE is delivering digitally-enhanced learning – using technology to take training to the next level and keep pace with the speed at which it is permeating every single sector.

“This is something we’re really passionate about,” says Ellen.

“There can be little doubt that IT, and the enhanced capability it provides, is cutting through almost every industry, from healthcare to communications, and engineering to architecture.

“And that means that every young person who leaves school, college or university has to be a digital citizen ready to utilise tech in whatever sector they move in to; equally our adult students need to keep pace with digital developments in the workplace too.

“This is why we embed digital into our training so students leave us digitally equipped and can apply these skills within their chosen industry.

“And we also use tech to enhance the quality of our training.

“At Sunderland College, we’ll soon be opening a new immersive space – part of a £3 million capital programme – that will simulate a range of digital environments to enable our T Level students to train in a space that, for instance, might feel like a factory or a hospital.

“We want it to feel authentic, and to bridge the gap between education and industry.”

Perhaps the most telling signs of the group being focused on the future are recent investments in spaces that will support the development of emerging eco-systems within the North East.


The college is set to play a key role in driving the skills base needed to support Nissan EV36Zero, a £1 billion electric vehicle eco-system that will create and secure thousands of jobs across the region.

EPNE has secured £1.3 million to deliver improved facilities at Sunderland College’s City Campus, that will allow the group to deliver training around green technology, ensuring the skills pipeline is strong.

Ellen says: “We are really passionate about the role education can play in the economic development of this region, and we’ve recently been working with Ford Next Generation Learning (NGL), Edge Foundation and the North East Local Enterprise Partnership to embed new approaches to teaching that have transformed outcomes in Nashville, in the US, and that we know can do the same for us in the North East.


“The approach relies on those close working relationships with local employers and community partners and experiential learning, and that’s what we will be developing to support the region’s EV hub and ensure that Envision AESC – the company that is leading the development of a £450 million gigafactory to drive EV36Zero – has the skills base it needs to drive the growth of automotive in the future.”

And, just as EPNE will be at the cutting-edge of advanced manufacturing of cars, the group is also set to blaze a trail when it comes to skills for modern methods of construction.

Sunderland City Council, EPNE and the Ministry of Building Innovation and Education have secured funding from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund that will see the development of a Housing Innovation and Construction Skills Academy (HICSA), a groundbreaking facility that will educate, train and upskill local people to create innovative factory-built new homes, the first of which will be assembled at Riverside Sunderland.


Ellen adds: “HICSA is really innovative.

“Just like Nissan EV36Zero, this is about powering the green revolution, that we know will create sustainable opportunities for our young people, as well as advancing the agenda of the region – and indeed the country – when it comes to building homes using modern methods of construction that are faster to construct and deliver exemplary quality and energy efficiency standards.

“This is about future-proofing our young people and supporting existing employees – ensuring they have the skills
that will power the economy of tomorrow and we’re thrilled to be able to advance this important agenda and play a part in building a green future for our region.

“Today, we’re thinking about tomorrow, trying to stay one step ahead and absolutely focused on the industries that will prosper – and the skills they will need – in the future.


“Our role is to ensure that it is our students who are able to step forward and be the leaders of tomorrow, thanks to the skills they’re developing right now at EPNE.”

Sunderland College developing future health and care workforce through new Academy of Excellence

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Sunderland College is partnering with the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, Ford Next Generation Learning and The Edge Foundation on a venture to ensure students are work-ready when they complete their studies.

Sunderland College is leading a partnership to bring education and employers closer together and develop the health and social care workforce of the future.

Alongside the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, Ford Next Generation Learning and The Edge Foundation, the college’s Health and Social Care Skills Academy ensures young people and adults have the skills and behaviours required to make them work-ready when they complete their studies.

Working closely with key employers and regional stakeholders South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust; Sunderland City Council; Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust; Home Group; Sunderland Care and Support; NHS Health Education England; All Together Better Sunderland; and Skills for Care, the Academy – launched in November 2020 – creates a 21st century curriculum offer that is aligned to the sectors’ current and future needs, drawing on decades of experience and expertise.

Peter Robertson, head of business development at Education Partnership North East, says: “We recognise that achieving qualifications is only part of the pathway to employment and that employers require so much more from their future workforces.

“The aim of the Academy is for the college to work closely with employers and for the college to develop a codesigned and co-delivered curriculum so that our students gain invaluable industry knowledge.

“Ideally, this will mean that employers have an identified ‘talent pool’ of work-ready students when recruiting staff in the coming years.

“The Academy will offer employers the opportunity to have a direct impact on the skills and behaviours of our further education students, adult learners and apprentices by helping shape our learning programmes so they reflect the needs of their sector.”

Regional employers, stakeholders and Sunderland College staff have formed an Academy Steering Board to provide a framework and establish ‘work streams’, such as co-designing and co-delivering courses, arranging guest speakers and masterclasses, introducing robust work experience and student mentoring programmes, as well as offering employer site visits and live projects.

Neil Willis, North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s education challenge regional lead, says: “We are delighted the partnership work with Sunderland College, Ford Next Generation Learning and Edge Foundation, as well as the effort and commitment of all stakeholders involved, is shaping the development of young people who have chosen health and social care as a career pathway.”

Fay Lane, talent for care relationship manager at Health Education England, continues: “Health Education England are proud to be supporting the Health and Social Care Academy of Excellence.

“The project is a key example of how college education partnerships at NHS ICS level can involve colleges in the workforce needs for the future; to ensure a sustainable, agile and innovative future health and care workforce.”

Gemma Taylor, workforce development and apprenticeship manager at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, says: “The trust is delighted to be part of the Academy, through working closely with the college we can ensure students gain the skills they need to develop a career in healthcare.

“Qualifications are important, but the Academy will also offer students the opportunity to experience what it’s like to work in the sector so that when they complete their studies, they will be work ready.”

Gayle Hennessey, apprenticeship contract manager at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, adds: “Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust are very pleased to be working with the Health and Social Care Academy of Excellence.

“In working with organisations that adopt the same high level of excellence towards learning, we can promote opportunities for successful careers in the health sector when the students complete their studies.”

Sunderland College has a rich history of working with employers that dates back more than 150 years.

Recently, health and social care has become one of the college’s key sector areas, with more than 800 students and apprentices studying at Bede Campus or placed with many of the region’s largest employers.

Challenging the growing skills gap across the region, millions of pounds has been invested in state-of-the-art ‘Health Hubs’ at Sunderland College by parent group Education Partnership North East.

These are mirrored at Hartlepool Sixth Form and Northumberland College to ensure students gain vital skills and experience within professional working environments.