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A specialist welding bootcamp delivered by Newcastle College has resulted in employment success for five participants, who have secured new roles at leading offshore manufacturer Smulders.<\/p>\n
Skills Bootcamps are a government initiative, designed to help adults gain new, sector-specific skills that employers are looking for. They provide opportunities to train in a new industry or progress in an existing career, with a guaranteed job interview at the end.<\/p>\n
As a major provider of technical training across the region, Newcastle College works closely with employers to shape and deliver a number of Skills Bootcamps – supporting people back into work, opening new career pathways, and helping local businesses to address critical skills shortages.<\/p>\n
The Welding Skills Bootcamp was an intensive programme delivered over 16 weeks at the College\u2019s Energy Academy in Wallsend late last year. It was shaped and delivered with Smulders to help address specific skills shortages in the offshore fabrication industry.<\/p>\n
Jay Patton, Production Welding Coordinator at Smulders, said: \u201cThere’s a real shortage of welding skills not just in the North East, but across the country, so bringing new people through is absolutely vital. Working with Newcastle College has been a huge benefit to us – the facilities are excellent, it\u2019s local, and together we\u2019re helping people develop the skills our industry urgently needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
The success of the programme led to Smulders offering five participants positions as Trainee Welders, including Ben Carr, who started the role earlier this month.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cGetting the email to say I\u2019d been accepted felt brilliant. I knew that if I stuck in, I\u2019d finally have the chance to build a long-term career in welding. I\u2019m learning loads every day and I\u2019m really enjoying it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul Turnbull, Head of Department at the Energy Academy, added: \u201cThe trainees were absolutely fantastic – their attendance, engagement and progress throughout the programme were exceptional. By developing this bootcamp directly with Smulders, we created a high-performing course that genuinely prepares people for work. The results speak for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skills Bootcamps form part of Newcastle College\u2019s wider commitment to supporting adults across the North East into good-quality, long-term employment. These short, intensive courses are free for most learners, and offer employers a low-cost way to upskill their workforce – strengthening retention, reducing recruitment costs and helping businesses adapt to emerging technologies.<\/p>\n
The success of the Welding Skills Bootcamp comes as the Energy Academy prepares for a major expansion, following \u00a38.5 million in funding from the North East Combined Authority, which will significantly enhance access to specialist facilities and technical training.<\/p>\n
This investment forms part of Newcastle College\u2019s long-term ambition to create a future Energy Campus – strengthening its role as a hub for clean energy skills, innovation and employer collaboration, and supporting the region\u2019s rapidly growing green energy sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A specialist welding bootcamp delivered by Newcastle College has resulted in employment success for five participants, who have secured new roles at leading offshore manufacturer Smulders. Skills Bootcamps are a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":10111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[220],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-training-news"],"yoast_head":"\n