Nearly 400* people have signed up for a career-enhancing [re[boot course with a West Yorkshire college in the last year.
Launched by the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) in September 2019, the [re]boot project has offered fully-funded courses ranging from Electrical Installation to Digital Marketing and Analytics.
[re]boot offers short courses at no cost to the participant and is funded by the European Social Fund. The West Yorkshire Consortium of Colleges represents the seven main colleges in the region who are delivering training through the project (Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds College of Building, Leeds City College including Harrogate and Keighley Colleges, Shipley and Wakefield College).
Part of the LEP’s Futuregoals campaign, the project was initially aimed at individuals who were in work and wanted to progress or change career into digital, construction or engineering roles. However, as COVID19 impacted on the UK’s workforce, the colleges have also signed up those on furlough and/or at risk of redundancy because of the pandemic.
Last summer, when people across the region were in the first lockdown, course registrations peaked.
Leeds College of Building have launched a number of courses, covering customer service, electrical wiring regulations, and in September successfully launched a [re]boot course exploring Building Information Modelling (BIM) for industry professionals or those looking to progress within the Built Environment sector.
Having graduated eight years ago, and with the threat of redundancy looming, Structural Engineer, Matthew Powell decided to start the BIM course that would help him demonstrate to potential employers his willingness to learn.
Matthew said "The course has given me new skills and allowed me to take on more responsibility in my current role. My ambition is to use what I have learnt to become more efficient at completing work tasks, apply new protocols and embed a Building Information Modelling philosophy."
The project continues to offer a wide range of digital, construction and engineering courses. Many can be delivered right now, online. Other courses that require face to face workshop training including some engineering and construction courses are taking registrations and will run when the colleges can open more widely.
The project continues to offer a wide range of digital, construction and engineering courses. Many can be delivered right now, online. Other courses that require face to face workshop training including some engineering and construction courses are taking registrations and will run when the colleges can open more widely.
To take part participants need to be 18 years or older and live within the Leeds City Region (Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, Selby, Wakefield or York districts).
To find out more about the courses running at Leeds College of Building click here.
You can search and apply the full range of courses here www.westyorkshirecolleges.co.uk.
