QinetiQ announces Wiltshire College collaboration to improve county’s engineering skills

QinetiQ will team up with Wiltshire College to boost engineering skills in the region.

The partnership between the two organisations will result in a combined focus on curriculum mapping for improved course delivery, professional development for staff, work shadowing and joint delivery opportunities, and development of innovative teaching, learning and assessment.

John Glen, Tory MP for Salisbury, hailed QinetiQ and Wiltshire College as two of the region’s leading training providers and welcomed news of the collaboration.

“We have a strong reputation for engineering skills in Salisbury and enhancing the opportunities for training young people here can only be a good thing,” he commented.

Alan Woolford, director of QinetiQ Academy, added that working with Wiltshire’s leading training providers would bolster the region’s reputation as an engineering skills hub.

“We are committed to developing apprenticeships not just for school leavers, but for experienced engineers who want to gain new skills and tackle contemporary challenges,” Mr Woolford said.

Wiltshire College already has significant engineering provision in the north of the county and hoped to be building new engineering facilities at its Salisbury campus in 2018.

Amanda Burnside, principal of Wiltshire College, believes the collaboration with QinetiQ would enhance the college’s established engineering offer.

“There is huge demand in the region for engineers at all levels and we want to ensure that our students have the leading edge skills that are required by 21st century employers,” she concluded.