National Express approached the college as they were facing a shortage of bus and coach engineers in the region and needed a solution to meet their current and future recruitment and skills needs. Through this partnership work we built and launched the national Express Bus and Coach Academy. The focus was to create a workspace that encompassed all of the facilities needed to enable the apprentices to have a realistic learning experience whilst in college that closely matched the workplace experience. This mans that apprentices are learning in industry standard facilities which replicate the workplace ensuring a high destination of apprentices achieving and moving into full time employment within the sector on completion. The partnership has further developed to launch the electric and hybrid vehicle academy to upskill employees within the motor vehicle industry to meet the net zero agenda and gain the skills needed to work on electric and hybrid cars.

BBV are the main contractor for HS2 and as such predicted a great demand for ground workers and plant operators with the region. South and City College Birmingham was the first college to work with them collaboratively to develop the BBV skills academy. We have replicated a construction site so candidates are learning in a real life replication as possible. We work with JCP to support unemployed residents to gain the skills and qualifications needed to gain a job with BBV or other construction companies associated with HS2.

SouthDocs Services are the clinical educational lead for GP surgeries in Birmingham and Solihull. SouthDocs Services worked with South and City College Birmingham in the recognition that there is a lack of qualified health care assistants in primary care and there is no standardised training programme. We worked with SouthDocs Services to bespoke to level 3 senior healthcare assistant apprenticeship to include skills needed in primary care such as phlebotomy, wound care and physiological measurements. This programme means both a talent pipeline of healthcare assistants and a standardised training programme, this will provide a pipeline of students to the level 5 nurse associate apprenticeship.

South and City College Birmingham also works with communities in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the city to ensure they have access to education and skills needed to enter employment and that businesses within those areas can access the range of support available to remain sustainable to employ residents of their local population. We have been a long standing board member of the North Birmingham Economic Recovery Board and more details can be found through (https://www.northbirminghameconomicrecovery.co.uk/)