UTC Swindon’s Angela Barker-Dench to host weekly surgery

UTC Swindon, Bristol Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 5ET

UTC Swindon principal, Angela Barker-Dench, is inviting prospective students and their parents to find out more about the college, described by Prime Minister David Cameron as “remarkable”, at a weekly surgery.

The surgery will take place on campus every Wednesday from 5.30 pm to 7.30pm, with the exception of half term. 

Potential students and parents will be able to meet Angela, who Mr Cameron also described as a “great leader”, and find out more about UTC Swindon and how to enrol. They’ll also have a chance to tour the £10million state-of-the-art site.

Students already enrolled are also welcome at the surgery.

UTC Swindon partners with local businesses to prepare students for employment in the engineering industries. Its curriculum is based on four core elements:

• academic knowledge and skills, including GCSEs and A-levels
• professional engineering competencies
• experience with local employers
• business, enterprise and entrepreneurship

Angela said: “We’re looking forward to welcoming prospective students and parents to the building and presenting the learning experience UTC Swindon has to offer.  The weekly surgery will also be a great opportunity to showcase what we’ve achieved since September 2014 and give young people a taste of what they can accomplish here.”

UTC Swindon caters for 600 students aged 14 to 19, providing courses for young people who aspire to a career in engineering. Students at the college can gain the skills necessary across all sectors of the engineering industries, as well as gaining their GCSEs and A-levels.

Students can start their studies in year 10 or year 12, studying fulltime from 8:30 am to 5 pm on Monday to Thursday and Friday from 8:30 am to 4 pm. This enables students to gain excellent qualifications at level 2 and 3, alongside the skills to be workplace ready or prepared for university.                                                           

UTC Swindon is run by a trust sponsored by Johnson Matthey Fuel Cells and Oxford Brookes University. There are over 90 different industry partners involved with the University Technical College.

As part of the original Great Western Rail works, the UTC Swindon site creates a link between the engineering history and the engineering future of the local area, with the Old School Building and the iconic Water Tower featuring prominently. Both structures, which are Grade II listed, were treated sympathetically, with the Water Tower being restored and brought back into educational use. Nick Gibb MP, Minister of State for School Reform, has called UTC Swindon “one of the best school buildings” he has ever seen[1].

To apply for a place at UTC Swindon in 2015, email info@utcswindon.co.uk or download the application form at www.utcswindon.co.uk.

For more information, call UTC Swindon on 01793 207920.

Like UTC Swindon on Facebook: www.facebook.com/utcswindon  

Follow us on Twitter: @utcswindon         

For media enquiries, please contact Emma De Maio, redheadPR, 07921 160 134, emma@redheadpr.co.uk. 

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