Education cabinet member welcomes announcement of second UTC in Doncaster

It was announced earlier this week that Doncaster will be getting a second UTC.

Doncaster Council’s cabinet member for education has welcomed the announcement.

It was announced on Tuesday that the second UTC will specialise in both health and wellbeing and green technology.

UTCs are government-funded schools which specialise in certain industries and careers, with strong links to businesses.

Doncaster’s existing site, which focuses on engineering, has been successful among students and local businesses since it opened in 2020.

Councillor Lani-Mae Ball, Cabinet Member for Early Help, Education, Skills and Young People, welcomed the announcement: “This collaborative strategy brings together our education, business and wider communities to grow and develop a ‘learning ecosystem’, which aspires to reach beyond the traditional, formal routes of learning, to offer a breadth and variety of education opportunities in a more dynamic, flexible, and inclusive way, aligned to our economic growth strategy.

“Growing Doncaster’s education and skills offer is central to this goal, to ensure every person in our city can access learning that is right for them and their aspirations, by creating a diverse and innovative, city-wide learning community.

“The strategy also focuses on developing five key centres of excellence, two of which are already supported by the existing UTC. This second UTC will further support routes into two more of these key sectors: Health and Care, and Green Technology.

“We are committed to developing this ecosystem further, and we are already seeing the promising results of this work. The new UTC is a great example of successful, innovative education practices now being expanded in Doncaster and we’re delighted to announce that the expansions will continue.

“We brought the UK’s first Big Picture Learning school to Doncaster in 2019, supported a successful bid for a South Yorkshire Institute of Technology, introduced Vega College and will soon be opening our Social, Emotional and Mental Health hubs, impacting positively on outcomes for young people.

“We’ve also worked to bring other international best practice to our city, hosting Doncaster’s – and the UK’s – first Remake Learning Days Festival in 2023, with over 10,000 people accessing fantastic learning opportunities within their communities, outside of the traditional classroom setting.

Following its success, Remake Learning now has a permanent place in Doncaster’s education and skills offer and will continue to grow each year.

The work coming out of this strategy will change the face of education and skills in our city for the better – it’s an exciting place to be and we’re looking forward to continuing this work together for the future generations of Doncaster.”

The announcement was also welcomed by Doncaster’s Chamber of Commerce, which led the bid for the city’s first UTC site, the Mayor of Doncaster and local MPs.

Doncaster’s second UTC is set to open in 2025.