Regional Centre of Excellence for Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths (STEM) OPENING AUTUMN 2017 A PARENTS GUIDE TO STEM BE PART OF IT BRIGHTEN THEIR FUTURE WITH STEM
STEM IN OUR COLLEGE STEM IN OUR CITY STEM. It s the buzzword that everyone is talking about. But what does it actually mean? You may know that STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and maths but why is it so important for the people of Plymouth? There is widespread agreement that STEM is a local and national priority for addressing both current and future skills shortages. In fact, it is so significant for Plymouth that the City has developed its own special plan. The STEM Plymouth Strategic Plan sets out how science, technology, engineering and maths can contribute to what we want our city to be like - a prosperous city for all. Plymouth has the highest concentration of manufacturing employment of any city in the south of England. No fewer than one in eight people works in engineering and manufacturing in the City, that s roughly 13,000 employees. But not enough young people are coming forward to train for these well-paid roles that have excellent long term prospects. In addition, STEM skills and knowledge are vital for a really wide range of careers, such as the health and medical sectors, the business world and creative industries. Currently 25% of pupils in Plymouth take STEM academic and vocational subjects post-16 - a percentage that needs to increase to ensure our workforce can adapt to the needs of Plymouth in the future. Make sure you don t miss out! Plymouth s STEM strategic plan envisages that by 2031 Plymouth will be a thriving, innovative, international ocean city with STEM driving the region s growth and productivity. Opening in September 2017, our 13million Regional Centre of Excellence for STEM is the most significant investment in Plymouth s skills infrastructure for many years. Together with our funders and partners, we are backing Plymouth s future and supporting the region s strategies for growth and prosperity. The Centre will have a huge impact on the training and education of STEM-related subjects for the City and the wider region. It will focus on the City s priority STEM sectors to promote and provide growth and investment in skills development, connectivity and innovation. This will include support for job creation, particularly in high-growth sectors, to drive productivity and promote enterprise. These aspirations are an integral part of the STEM Plymouth Strategic Plan, helping to ensure Britain s Ocean City is recognised as a world leader in STEM development. The new Centre is, of course, so much more than just bricks and mortar. Its success will depend in no small measure on the continued involvement of more than 200 employers who are working with us to create a future workforce of which Plymouth can be proud. Our commitment is to train and develop those young people and adults required by local employers and our City s economy. We re doing all we can to make sure there s a bright future ahead for all. Phil Davies Principal and Chief Executive THE NUMBERS 13million new development dedicated to STEM for Plymouth 5.43million funding from the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership s Growth Deal 2.7million from the Regional Growth Fund 4million from Plymouth City Council More than 200 regional businesses involved in shaping the facilities, equipment and training offer More than 12,000 students each year More than 1,450 apprentices trained each year 12 curriculum areas integrating STEM into the student experience 100% focus on student and industry needs 1
WHY STEM MATTERS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE Study STEM subjects, develop STEM skills and you ll have no difficulty finding work that is well-paid and has good career prospects in the area. STEM Plymouth Strategic Plan City College is committed to ensuring Plymouth has the supply of skilled work-ready youngsters in order to meet the needs of employers and make our City thrive. Together, we can create a strong STEM future for all. The message is clear. Young people will benefit greatly from developing STEM skills and knowledge now in order to become work ready and maximise their career opportunities in the future. Many of the major challenges facing society in the 21st Century need solutions which can only be developed by people with STEM skills - and studying STEM subjects equips young people to be part of that. Studying STEM subjects will become valuable in the job market and give them a wide range of options to choose from, whatever their skill or personality. Luckily, in Plymouth, young people have access to first class STEM training and our new Regional Centre of Excellence for STEM will further enhance this. THE NATIONAL PICTURE 830,000 the number of jobs in STEM to be filled by 2020 93,000 the shortage of skilled STEM workers by 2020 182,000 engineers needed per year up to 2022 230,000 construction workers needed by 2022 1.2MILLION the number of digital workers needed by 2022 72% the percentage of businesses that rely on people with STEM skills 500,000 the number of new STEM jobs in the UK in the next five years 2 Sources: RAE Engineering UK Report CITB Construction Skills Network Forecasts UK Commission for Employment and Skills CBI Education and Skills Survey 3
WHY STEM MATTERS FOR EMPLOYERS Manufacturing is a really important sector for Plymouth. So it s not surprising that much is being done to support this, not just by City College, but by all those responsible for economic strategies in the region. Added to this is a well-documented shortage of engineers. But acquiring STEM skills and knowledge is not just important for the engineering sector. All kinds of employers need workers with STEM expertise. That s why the importance of STEM skills is recognised at national, regional and local level. In fact, according to Plymouth City Council, the new STEM Centre is integral to Plymouth s local Economic Strategy and its plan for Employment and Skills. REGIONAL CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR STEM SUPPORTED BY REGIONAL CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR STEM SUPPORTED BY PMG 800 MILLION - the gross value added (GVA) provided by manufacturing to the local economy 16% - manufacturing s share of the City s total GVA DUKE OF CORNWALL HOTEL PLYMOUTH T E C construction WHAT EMPLOYERS SAY Our local employers have a lot to say about STEM! A survey of employers found that: employers are excited about using the new regional Centre of Excellence to promote STEM as a career choice for young people an opportunity exists to achieve a higher female participation rate in manufacturing in order to broaden the talent pool available to the sector. The Regional Centre of Excellence for STEM is integral to Plymouth s local Economic Strategy and its plan for Employment and Skills - both highlight the need to develop STEM-related skills to support job creation in high growth sectors and drive the City s productivity. Councillor Ian Bowyer, Leader of Plymouth City Council This project will address the issue that has been identified by business in our area as the most significant barrier to growth - skill gaps. We are very positive about the project s ability to maximise economic growth. The Plymouth and Peninsula City Deal has an advanced manufacturing and marine focus, and STEM skills are needed for all our transformational opportunities. Chris Garcia, Chief Executive, Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership Digital skills development is crucial for Plymouth and this project will support Plymouth s vision to establish a Digital Academy. The digital sector in Plymouth has large skills gaps, with a lack of individuals having high level digital skill qualifications, and many people working in the sector having no qualifications to undertake their role proficiently. Paul Coles, BT South West Regional Partnerships Director The remoteness of Plymouth in relation to other UK cities and marine engineering centres can make recruitment difficult, and this is further hampered by the relatively low skilled economy in Plymouth, compared to other cities in the south west of England. This makes access to the higher marine engineering skills Babcock needs to sustain and grow our business very challenging. Phil Jones, Managing Director, Naval Bases, Babcock The new centre will have a number of benefits for Plymouth. Not only will it help make our City a great place to live by creating opportunities for better learning and great investment, with more jobs, it will also drive entrepreneurship and innovation, and match skills with demand. Steve Gerry, Secretary of the Plymouth Manufacturers Group As a City with a strong manufacturing base, it is vital that we demonstrate the career opportunities available to young people on the doorstep - we don t want to lose that talent. Plymouth is an exciting place to be for engineering and manufacturing. Young men and women in Plymouth have a huge amount to offer - and STEM education for all is the first step to unlocking it. Karen Friendship, Managing Director, Alderman Tooling There are many opportunities for young people to develop their careers without having to leave the area. Paul Bird, Co-Founder, Digital Plymouth 4 5
CAREERS IN STEM Many well-recognised occupations have links to science, engineering, technology and maths. A career in STEM combines excitement, interest and challenge with better pay and long term career prospects. In fact, recent research has found that STEM graduates earn nearly 20% more than their peers, at an average of 26,023! NUCLEAR ENGINEERS 35,425 per year Science and technology make a vital contribution to health and well-being and STEM underpins the performance of the science, health, IT and engineering industries. STEM is key in computer systems design, scientific research and development, and high tech manufacturing. STEM jobs range from computer programmers and civil engineers to nuclear engineers, chemists and pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturers. AVERAGE SALARIES FOR CAREERS IN STEM SPORTS THERAPISTS 28,000 per year GAMES DEVELOPERS 35,000 per year ARCHITECTS 830 per week MANUFACTURING ENGINEERS 29,000 per year ELECTRICIANS 625 per week CIVIL ENGINEERS 30,369 per year CHEMISTS 24,956 per year 6 7
STEM SUCCESS STEM SUCCESS STEM skills don t just sound like a good idea, they lead to well paid and rewarding careers across the world, all over the UK and right here in Plymouth. Here are a few examples... THE MEDIA APPRENTICE THE MANAGING DIRECTOR THE STRUCTURAL SURVEYOR THE GAMES DEVELOPER THE CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATOR First year marketing apprentice, Aly Whiting, works for Devonport Live, a Plymouthbased digital community hub whose aim is to improve community cohesion within the local area. She said: I jumped at the chance to get paid while learning in the industry. I ve learnt how to work both the cameras for filming and photography. I ve also had the opportunity to write an article for the Plymouth Herald, which actually got published! David Rowe, Managing Director of award-winning Plymouth manufacturing company, Applied Automation, attributes his success to his engineering training with City College as an apprentice, where he developed the base core skills that he still needs today. I m a great believer in Apprenticeships - they give you immediate employment and, in return, you get paid and gain experience. For my business, they are also a great way of funnelling new talent into the company. David s company has 135 staff and an annual turnover of 15million. The company now regularly recruits two apprentices each year and is looking to expand the operation to a national business in the next five years. Mark Fulcher, Structural Surveyor at Babcock International, specialises in work on surface ships and travels up and down the country to monitor and survey boats and submarines. I decided I d like to progress my career, and Babcock agreed to fund my studies. I am extremely lucky that the company fully supported me when I took up a Foundation Degree at City College. Everything I learnt at the College has helped me to progress within my field and I hope to carry on climbing the career ladder. After graduating from Plymouth University in 2009 with a BSc in Digital Art and Technology, Andy Sargeant set up a games development company with some of his peers. They started small - creating websites and mobile apps for companies - and planned to use their earnings to fund their own games development business. In 2011 the team of five released their own game that has since been downloaded more than 130,000 times! Andy subsequently joined Create-a-net, developing iphone apps but soon realised he wanted to work with people and took up the post of Lecturer in Computing Systems and Software Design at City College in 2015. Crime Scene Investigator, Hannah Dix, 25, was doing a photography course when she first decided to pursue a career in forensic science. We had to research the types of jobs that we wanted to do with our photography training, and I looked into the role of forensic photographer. I saw that City College Plymouth ran an evening class and I decided to stay on at the College and do the two year Foundation Degree course. The course was brilliant - it gave me great groundwork to be able to go into the second year of my Bachelors of Science degree at the University of the West of England. I now work as a Crime Scene Investigator and I love it. 8 9