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ÌÇÐÄTV Manufacturing Group (WMG) strengthened its regional, national and global relationships throughout March, meeting MPs, international university representatives, and business leaders.

The meetings highlight WMG’s crucial role in bridging the gap between academia and industry, as well as its strong commitment to collaboration and innovation.

Below is an overview of some of the key meetings that took place.

The UK is facing a skills crisis, making skills-based education more important than ever. Earlier this month, a delegation from Skills England and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) visited WMG to see how it’s helping to prepare the workforce of tomorrow.

Welcomed by WMG’s Dr Benjamin Silverstone, Head of Skills Policy and Strategy, the delegation consisted of Katherine Green, DWP’s new Director General; Gemma Marsh, Deputy CEO of Skills England; and Mark Foley, Deputy Director of Work-based Skills at DWP. Their visit was an opportunity to showcase WMG’s role in supporting skills development by connecting industry with academia through world-leading education programmes and apprenticeships.

Goldman Sachs and WMG announced the launch of their partnership for an inaugural Digital and Technology Solutions undergraduate degree apprenticeship programme in Birmingham.

This new initiative builds on the decade-long success of the firm's established London apprenticeship programme, offering school leavers a unique pathway to gain invaluable professional experience at Goldman Sachs while simultaneously earning a fully funded university degree in engineering.

This significant expansion underscores Goldman Sachs' deep commitment to fostering talent and investing in the UK's future workforce. It follows the firm's £1.5 million pledge earlier this year to the West Midlands Combined Authority levy transfer scheme. These funds are dedicated to empowering small and medium-sized businesses, charities, and social enterprises across the region to invest in staff development, with a particular focus on critical digital skills.

The Advance HE Teaching Excellence Awards are among the most prestigious in the world of higher education — and WMG, University of ÌÇÐÄTV, is proud to share that one of its own, Dr Freeha Azmat, has been honoured this year.

An Associate Professor and Reader in Engineering Education at WMG, Dr Azmat has been named a National Teaching Fellow for her outstanding innovations in engineering education and curriculum design, as well as her steadfast commitment to inclusion.

Freeha is now one of only three academics at WMG to have received Advance HE’s National Teaching Fellowship Award; she joins Professor Robin Clark, Pro-Dean International, and Professor Margaret Low, Director of Outreach and Participation, as a fellow.

(IET), one of the world’s leading professional societies for engineers and technicians, has awarded professional recognition to the BSc Digital and Technology Solutions Degree ApprenticeshipLink opens in a new window at WMG, University of ÌÇÐÄTV.

Accreditation was awarded following a rigorous review process, which looked at the programme’s content and delivery including its relevance, coherence, challenge, assessment, staffing, quality assurance, facilities and resources. This recognition underscores WMG’s dedication to providing high quality engineering education.

The BSc Digital and Technology Solutions Degree Apprenticeship is aligned to the . The programme offers four specialist pathways, designed to best meet specific industry needs.*

Congratulations to a group of female engineering students who have been named as finalists at the : Rising Stars awards.

There was a total of seven WMG Degree Apprenticeship students, recognised in the Apprentice category, with six employed by JLR and one from Bentley.

Three of the students, Erin Purewal; Amy Flavell and Keishe Gopikrishna, are studying on the BSc Digital and Technology Solutions (DTSLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window) programme.

A further four, Alexandra Spurway, Beth Daniel, Charlotte Bradford and Emily Ruscoe, are studying on the BEng Applied Professional Engineering Programme (APEPLink opens in a new windowLink opens in a new window) programme.

A total of five undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at WMG, University of ÌÇÐÄTV have received accreditation from the , Chartered Institute for IT.

The BCS, the professional body for computing, awarded unconditional accreditation, to the following:

Full-time courses  

· BSc Cyber Security

· MSc Cyber Security Engineering

· MSc Cyber Security Management

 Degree Apprenticeships 

· BSc Digital and Technology Solutions

· MSc Digital and Technology Solutions

This accreditation ensures that graduates from the relevant BSc and MSc programmes are automatically eligible to apply for full or partial Chartered Information Technology Professional (CITP) membership with BCS respectively, thereby enhancing their employability prospects as they embark on careers in technology and computing.

WMG at the University of ÌÇÐÄTV welcomes the recent report on Degree Apprenticeships in England.

As a major provider of degree apprenticeships in engineering and digital technologies in the West Midlands, WMG recognises the transformative impact that they have on employers and learners who gain real industrial experience alongside a degree qualification.

The report explores the experiences of apprentices, employers, and education and training providers (ETPs), and makes a number of key recommendations for Government and Skills England to explore, which WMG strongly supports.

Professor Rob Thornton, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education at WMG, said: "Degree Apprenticeships provide fantastic opportunities for young people to learn and gain work experience, at the same time delivering value for and meeting the ongoing skills needs for businesses.

“While awareness of these programmes and their popularity is growing, ETPs may struggle to meet this demand due to administrative complexity and the fragmentation of apprenticeship standards. It's vitally important that employers take the lead in defining apprenticeship standards, but these also need to be flexible to allow ETPs to tailor their programmes to better meet employer and regional needs, and incorporate the world-leading research and development being carried out in our universities."

Find out more about WMG Degree Apprenticeship programmes here: Degree Apprenticeships

Congratulations to the WMG graduates who celebrated their achievements at the University of ÌÇÐÄTV's Winter Ceremonies.

A total of 1307 Master’s, Postgraduate Research and Undergraduate students graduated from across WMG Including:

• 1,212 Master’s students; with 1,123 of those full-time, 38 part-time, and 51 studying overseas.

• 11 PhD students and one EngD student

• 83 Undergraduate students from Applied Engineering; Digital and Technology Solutions; Cyber Security; and Digital Healthcare Science

At the event, keynote speeches were delivered by members of the WMG alumni community - Dr Andy Palmer CMG, MSc Manufacturing Systems Engineering, (1990), former COO at Nissan and President & Group CEO of Aston Martin; Paul Faithfull MSc/EngD Engineering (UK), (1997), Chairman, Watt Electric Vehicles and Jim Shaw, MSc Engineering ÌÇÐÄTV Management, (1996), Chief Experience Officer, bloom³.