Siemens and OCR launch UK engineering skills partnership 27 October 2014

Siemens and qualifications body OCR – collaborating with in conjunction with the Cabinet Office, DoE (Department of Education) and BIS (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills) – are now pooling resources to help "tackle the skills gap in engineering and manufacturing".

The new education scheme for engineers has been developed by Siemens and OCR in conjunction with the Cabinet Office, Department of Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The partnership deal – the first of its kind in the UK – aims to develop joint education resources for 14—16 year olds, with Siemens and OCR expecting to deliver an appropriate engineering curriculum in schools.

Siemens HR director Toby Peyton-Jones explains that te curriculum will then be taught by teachers across the UK to deliver units from the Cambridge National in Engineering Level 1/2 qualification.

Modules taught – such as energy recovery – will provide teachers with a structured plan to teach students how a range of topics work together across the syllabus – with a goal of encouraging understanding of how skills and knowledge link in a working environment.

The approach to engaging with students will be centred on applying knowledge in areas such as science, technology engineering and mathematics to real life projects.

"All children should have the opportunity to learn by doing as well as studying," comments Lord Baker, chairman of the Baker Dearing Educational Trust.

"This will lead to a growing demand for education from 14 onwards, [which] is what our education system and our economy needs."

Starting this autumn, the new engineering education programme will be available to every school in the country.

Siemens is currently training 400 apprentices in the UK and recruits approximately 100 graduate trainees here each year.

In 2013, Siemens launched the UK's first engineering education and careers portal for schools, which allows teachers, students and parents to access a hub for the classroom, designed to encourage young people to engage with engineering and manufacturing related subjects.

Brian Tinham

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