Stansted Airport College Receives Go-Ahead

Today great progress has been made for our board members, Stansted Airport, and for the wider skills landscape in Essex, as the proposed £11 million technical skills college has received the go ahead by Uttlesford District Council. With this confirmation, the Stansted Airport College is planned to open in September 2018.

The two-story campus, which will be a joint project between Stansted Airport and Harlow College, has been proposed in order to boost the highly in-demand, technical skills which will be taught on courses which will cross-over with the airport's functions such as: Aircraft and Airport Engineering, Business Studies, Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Asset Management and Hospitality and Customer Service.

Harlow College have released more information about each of the courses on offer in the PDF document in our 'downloads' section.

Andrew Cowan, Stansted Airport's CEO, had previously stated that: "Securing, developing and retaining the right talent and skills at a growing airport like Stansted is critical to our business, our 200 on-site business partners and the long term prosperity of our region."

The project is funded by a partnership of the South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP) and Essex County Council (ECC), who have committed to contributing £3.5m each, as well as the Local Growth Partnership. As a result of the supporting funding and the confirmation of the planning permissions received earlier today, it is expected that around 500 people will be able to train at the technical college each year.

The courses offered at the now-confirmed facility will support a current lack in skills around STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects which are key for Essex's growth sectors.

Along with projects such as this, our own Education and Industry STEM Programme is also working to encourage the uptake of STEM-related subjects within schools. Having worked already with 30 schools and over 1,000 students each year, raising the aspirations of a valuable career in the sector could translate into more people enroling on relevant courses and fulfilling the necessary flow of people continuing to enter the sector.