Durham University and four County Durham colleges have formalised a groundbreaking partnership to expand education opportunities and drive economic growth in North East England.
The Durham Learning Alliance is a partnership between the University, New College Durham, East Durham College, Derwentside College and Bishop Auckland College.
Over recent years we’ve worked together on expanding employment and apprenticeship opportunities, piloting T-level placements and improving progression routes for post-16 education.
The Alliance has now been formalised with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Meeting education and skills needs
The MoU celebrates what the Alliance has already achieved while setting a three-year vision for how it can be further developed to meet local, regional and national education and skills needs.
Each institution has pledged to continue working together across seven key areas.
These include workforce development, establishing clear pathways into higher education and seeking to minimise unproductive competition while maximising the strength of the Alliance’s collective offer.
Successful collaboration
One of the Alliance’s successful collaborations involved ten T-level students from the colleges undertaking work placements at Durham University.
Eight students completed placements in the University’s Computing and Information Services while two worked in the Department of Chemistry.
The students gained valuable work experience, support and mentorship and there are plans to expand the T-level placement programme across other University departments.
There are also plans to pilot a mentoring scheme for female T-level students in areas where women are traditionally underrepresented such as engineering, digital and technical services.
Dr Shaid Mahmood, Durham University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)), on behalf of the Alliance, said: “Our partnership is about inspiring young people into further education and expanding access routes into apprenticeships, job opportunities and work placements.
“For the last couple of years we’ve been building relationships and trust, and the resulting MoU is a groundbreaking example of a University working in partnership with anchor institutions in its local area to improve outcomes for young people and our region.
“We want to provide a more joined up approach to education and skills training, which in turn will boost economic development, because economic growth needs a skilled workforce to drive it.”
Chris Todd, Principal and Chief Executive of Derwentside College, said: "The Durham Learning Alliance affords us a unique opportunity to expand employment opportunities across the region whilst driving economic growth.
"By working in collaboration with Durham University and other Durham Colleges we can improve opportunities for local people to access education and training."
