News & Press
Boris Johnson MP joined staff, students and employers during Apprenticeship Week events at Uxbridge College.
The MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip and British Prime Minister toured the college’s Uxbridge campus, meeting students, staff and employer partners. The tour included classes and workshops with Apprentices in Accountancy, Electrical Installation, Electrical Engineering & Electronics, and Motor Vehicle Maintenance.
Mr Johnson chatted to the Apprentices about their experiences at college and with their employers, emphasising the importance of all their skills areas to the UK economy. He also got a chance to meet students from some of the college’s wide range of vocational and academic courses.
Mr Johnson said: “I was delighted to be able to visit Uxbridge College again to meet with staff and some of the students studying for apprenticeships in a range of areas including Electrical Installation, Electrical Engineering & Electronics and Motor Vehicle Maintenance. It was great to hear of their exciting plans for the future, in particular the work around the newly launched West London Institute of Technology – one of only 12 in the UK. These new Institutes of Technology will be the pinnacle of technical training – new collaborations between universities, colleges and businesses to make sure young people have the skills they need to start a productive and rewarding career. Uxbridge College has a key role to play in training up the workforce of the future as we look to drive forward a nationwide infrastructure revolution.”
Dr Darrell DeSouza, Group Principal of Uxbridge College and HCUC, said: “Uxbridge College is very pleased to have received this visit from Boris Johnson during Apprenticeship Week with the chance to introduce him to some of our fantastic Apprentices and share some of our most recent developments with him. It was a very enjoyable visit and a valuable opportunity to share both our successes and to discuss some of the challenges being faced by further education with him.”
Staff also briefed the MP on key projects at the college, including the West London Institute of Technology, as well as discussing some of the major issues in national education and skills policy. West London Institute of Technology, which is part of the merged college group HCUC and based at the Uxbridge campus, is one of just 12 licenced nationally to provide higher level education and training in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths) subjects and which will include Apprentices and Higher level Apprentices. The Institute opened in September 2019, and the £8.6m redevelopment programme of new facilities is due to be completed by the autumn. HCUC is also the only college group in London to be offering the new T Levels - ‘Technical Levels’, which are equivalent to A Levels and include an extended industry placement - from September 2020.
For photos of the visit go to https://www.facebook.com/pg/uxbridgecollege/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10157450240020283
Pictured from the left: students Sirin Khamouch, Varan Kang, Noah Amos, Masoum Asefi
Business students raised hundreds of pounds to support elderly people and developed valuable work skills in a series of challenges completed as part of their qualification.
The group from Uxbridge College’s BTEC Extended Diploma in Business - equivalent to three A Levels - ran a range of fundraising events to raise the money for Age UK Hillingdon, Harrow & Brent. Their cheque for £660.91 was officially accepted by Age UK Community Fundraiser Wendy Snelling.
The students’ activities, run as part of the ‘Managing a Business Event’ unit, included video gaming via PlayStation 4, trivia questions and answers, guess the number of sweets in a jar, and selling refreshments and snacks. They developed skills including organising and planning, marketing, problem solving, teamwork, negotiation, and communication.
Swaran Johal, Course Team Leader for Business, said: “The students worked extremely hard to raise money for Age UK and the whole staff team is very proud of their efforts. All events were planned using and developing the full range of event management skills, with students applying theory from lessons to real practical activities, and using their creativity and imagination to come up with their own successful ideas for how to generate revenue.”
Students who have joined university degrees in the final year thanks to their HND qualifications were among those celebrating at HCUC’s graduation ceremony.
The Higher Education graduation ceremony for the merged college group for Uxbridge College and Harrow College recognised the achievements of students from HNC and HND courses. This included Top-up HNDs, in which students study specifically to enter degrees in the final year. Equivalent to up to two years of university undergraduate study, HNCs and HNDs are targetted at industry skills such as Business, Computing, Engineering, and the Health and Leisure industries.
The group graduated in a formal ceremony at Brunel University London, wearing the traditional cap and gown of Higher Education, and celebrated afterwards with friends and family.
Dr Darrell DeSouza, Principal and CEO of HCUC, who presented the awards, said: “These qualifications are an increasingly popular route to university and it is wonderful to see so many of our students have the opportunity to progress to this level of education in this way, including via Top-up qualifications. Equally, our HNCs and HNDs are highly sought-after by employers, due to the way they are designed for industry with the help of employers themselves.
“I’d like to say a huge congratulations to all our graduates this year and I hope their success and the benefits they’re enjoying as a result will inspire others to follow in their footsteps.
“We are also looking forward to seeing future students on these courses and others benefit from brand new £8.6m facilities being developed as part of HCUC’s West London Institute of Technology, due to be fully launched in September.”
West London Institute of Technology, based at Uxbridge College, is just one of 12 such Institutes being developed nationally as part of Government strategy to close the skills gap in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects, by providing higher level qualifications and Apprenticeships. West London IoT is being developed in partnership with a wide range of employers including anchor partners Brunel University London, Fujitsu, Heathrow and West London Business.
The BTEC HNC Level 4 and BTEC HND Level 5 Diplomas, accredited by Pearson, were completed by Uxbridge College and Harrow College students in the following subject areas: Business; Computing; Computing Plus; Creative Computing – Games/Visual Effects; Electrical Engineering; Electrical and Electronic Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Construction & The Built Environment; Sport (Community Sport); Travel & Tourism Management.
This year’s HE Graduates progressed to the following universities: Middlesex University, City University, Coventry University, University of Westminster, University of Brighton, University of Portsmouth, University of Hertfordshire, University of Surrey, University of Southampton, University of East London, University of Hertfordshire, Southampton Solent University, London Southbank, Nottingham Trent University, University of Northampton, University of Kent, Bucks New University.
* For more information about HNCs and HNDs go to https://www.uxbridge.ac.uk/college-information/higher-education.html