A WORLD class STEM centre will provide the ‘missing piece’, a visible and strategic focal point, as hi-tech industry grows its roots in the Tees Valley, according to the man behind the vision.
The Darlington STEM Centre of Excellence will provide advanced technical vocational training, the means to train, attract and upskill a highly capable workforce demanded by employers, particularly those in AI, robotics, green energy and advanced manufacturing.
“You enhance community by educating its people, making them ready to enter the workplace and secure well-paid jobs, so they feel valued and better about themselves,” said David Gartland, principal and CEO of Darlington College and chair of the Plan for Neighbourhoods Board.
“The aim is to attract more people to STEM subjects, right from primary school, to secondary and post-16. People from all different backgrounds will be offered a clear line of sight from a young age to university, with jump off points into employment at different stages appropriate to them.
“It will also be there for the established workforce to upskill and retrain to provide a highly skilled workforce for the related industries locating in the borough and across the Tees Valley.”
Estimates claim that there are 173,000 STEM vacancies nationally costing the UK economy £1.5bn a year. In Darlington the technical sector represents 14 per cent of businesses and employs seven per cent of workers with many more in other organisations across the borough.
David has been working on the initiative with Darlington’s MP Lola McEvoy, who managed to secure crucial meetings with the Department for Business and Trade and the Treasury, and with the Borough Council.
As a result £16m was pledged from the Government’s Mission Growth Fund which will be added to £5m from the Pride in Place initiative to build the Darlington STEM Centre of Excellence by 2027, to coincide with the launch of V Levels.
The ambitious three-storey state of the art building will be cutting edge, featuring:
• A 100-capacity auditorium
• A 350sqm community work space
• A hub to inspire students in the benefits of STEM
• Learning spaces including science and data labs, classrooms, seminar and IT rooms,
• STEM related holiday camps
• Breakout spaces, a community social area, technician lab and training centre.
It will provide undergraduate and postgraduate courses, apprenticeships, industry-relevant skills development, life-long learning and upskilling opportunities eventually for more than 600 students.
David said: “It will create a sustainable ecosystem where local talent is nurtured, retained and continually upskilled supporting both regional and economic growth and national workforce resilience.
“The position of the centre is important. It is central, on a science park, just a few minutes’ walk from the railway station, in an education quarter near Darlington College and Teesside University. It is ideally situated where people can easily access it and it is going to be a world class facility.”
Darlington is one of only two areas in the country to receive the funding to ensure skills meet real-world demand. David said: “It’s great that the Government has acknowledged the quality teaching here and that we have been able to deliver high level education.”
The borough’s annual gross domestic product currently stands at around £3bn with ambitious plans to expand in the advanced manufacturing, life sciences, logistics, digital technology and professional services sectors.
At the moment no such facility exists in the region and data shows that only 14 per cent of the A Level and nine per cent of the vocational cohorts study STEM subjects.
Partnerships with business will be key and the STEM centre will allow industry to shape training, connect with emerging talent, offer work experience, internships and graduate opportunities, ensure skills meet real-word demand, provide students with meaningful projects, act as a hub for mentoring and reduce the skills gap.