Following a rigorous review and selection process, WorldSkills UK is pleased to announce the 12 pioneering organisation and practitioner innovation projects that are aimed at raising the standards of technical education and training across the UK.
WorldSkills UK in partnership with NCFE, and supported by the Department for Education, invited further and higher technical education providers and practitioners to apply for funding for small and larger scale projects exploring innovative ideas and approaches to support teaching excellence.
Through these innovation projects, participants identified areas requiring development, and they are currently experimenting and exploring potential solutions, and assessing their effectiveness, with the aim of enhancing educational practices and sharing findings widely throughout the education sector for mutual benefit.
These initiatives are poised to contribute to the transformation of the technical education landscape by introducing innovative practices and approaches, encouraging collaboration between educational institutions and industry partners. The projects are categorised into four key themes: mainstreaming international best practice; effective employer engagement and partnership working; innovative use of technology and championing future skills and learner work readiness; knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSB’s)- employability and innovation skills.
The selected organisation innovation projects are:
University College Birmingham: National Network of Institutes of Technology: Learning from international best practice in Vocational Education and Training (VET) and demonstrating effective practice sharing through a national network
City Liverpool College: Mainstreaming international benchmarking into Level 1 technical courses
Barnsley College: Developing effective T Level health work placements
Hull College: Establishing a cross disciplinary Drone Academy
The selected practitioner innovation projects are:
Glasgow Clyde College: Development of a Laboratory Technician Skills Booster Programme
Gower College: SkillSphere Initiative: Bridging classroom learning with industry demands
Barnsley College: Digital Expert Exchange
Hull College: Mentor Skills Programme
University of Kent: Immersive learning: Enhancing Advanced Therapeutics course materials and delivery with virtual reality
Hull College: Induction Showcase to raise standards and champion future skills
Glasgow Clyde College: Digital Essentials- Developing and sharing new and emerging teaching approaches using technology
Barnsley College: Assessing initial and ongoing assessment of innovation skills in healthcare students
The projects are currently underway, and the final sharing of innovation project outcomes is scheduled to take place, as part of a two-day CPD programme facilitated during the WorldSkills UK National Finals in Manchester. Each project lead will discuss and share their learnings with cross –sector colleagues to enable sharing of best practice.
Skills Innovation Fund: Organisation and Practitioner Project Guidance
