Solent University wins bid for new regional Institute of Technology

The planned £13m maritime, engineering and digital Institute of Technology aims to meet the Solent region’s future workforce needs across maritime, engineering and digital technologies - connecting learners across the educational partners through innovative learning opportunities and an employer-led curriculum.

Professor Karen Stanton, Solent University Vice-Chancellor, says: This is great news for the region. Institutes of Technology aim to deliver technical knowledge, combined with the practical skills demanded by employers – values already embedded in Solent’s curriculum as we ensure all our students are ready for a successful future. To be able to deliver these benefits to many more learners and offer further opportunities for education and growth across our community will be of huge benefit to the area, both educationally and economically.”

Solent University led the bid, working in partnership with Fareham College as the lead Further Education (FE) partner, Solent LEP and employers including ABP Port, Teemill and The Royal Navy.

Andrew Kaye, Principal and CEO, Fareham College, lead FE provider on the project, says, “Working in collaboration with the other FE and HE institutions to establish this vital new resource, we are absolutely delighted to have been selected to create one of the additional nine Institute of Technology centres across the country. The project partners are working together to provide higher technical training in science, technology, engineering and Maths subjects to fuel the growth of the globally leading Solent maritime cluster. As part of this, the new centre, which will be based at our CEMAST campus in Lee-on-the Solent, will help to address local issues, as well as inspiring learners across the Solent region to develop higher technical skills in Maritime Engineering and Digital Technologies.”

Other partners are Brockenhurst College, Eastleigh College, Havant and South Downs College and Isle of Wight College and the University of Portsmouth. The Funds will be used to enhance the best learning facilities across the region, with Institute of Technology centres at each site by 2023.

Brian Johnson, Chair of the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership, says: "This is fantastic news for our region - a well-deserved result of the forward-thinking approach we've adopted with our partners, and the innovative collaboration in place between education providers and employers committed to providing people in the Solent with ambitious career pathways into high skilled jobs.

"The Institute of Technology will focus on higher technical skills across digital technologies, engineering and maritime, offering the opportunities our communities deserve and a pipeline of skills employers need for continued success. It will play a major role in helping our region to prosper, in levelling up, green innovation and developing the full potential of the Solent Freeport."

More information about found on the Institute of Technology website.

This good news follows on from Solent University being awarded just over £1million in funding from the government’s £18 million spend to expand higher technical training for local communities. The funding will be used to develop eight programmes across Digital, Health and Science and Construction subject areas into Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs), for delivery from 2023.