UTC South Durham’s GCSE Maths results have been the best ever with 70% of the cohort scoring grade 4-9 passes against last year’s school national average of 59.8%. This is an outstanding achievement particularly for students aiming to go into a STEM or technical career.

Gaining good grades in formal qualifications is an important start but the purpose of education is to help young people gain the experiences, skills, qualifications and confidence to pursue a meaningful career. We have many exceptional success stories for students at the UTC. For example, Jasmine Starbuck has always had great aspirations to pursue a career in economics and politics and has recently been awarded a scholarship to attend Durham High School Sixth Form to fulfil her ambition. Jasmine achieved outstanding GCSE results including a grade 9 for her English Language. Jasmine said ‘I’m so pleased with my GCSE results. I have worked really hard to achieve this and I can’t wait to continue to follow my dream of going into politics’. Jasmine has even completed an extended project qualification which is the equivalent to as A/S Level.

Many of the other Year 11 students are coming back to the UTC to carry on with their A-Level and technical studies. They will be able to take advantage of the combination of academic, technical and workplace education which includes project and placements with industrial partners. New facilities at the UTC include a mechatronics lab and additional fabrication and welding equipment. Recent results showed a 100% pass rate at A-level with 90% of students achieving Distinction or better in Tech Level Engineering; these have supported students in achieving outstanding STEM destinations.

Several students have moved on to other positive destinations, including three of the Year 11 students who have been successful in landing Level 3 apprenticeships at Gestamp Tallent. The students went through a challenging recruitment process to achieve the fantastic opportunity and all of the students were thrilled at being offered the position. Joe Howarth, one of the successful candidates, said ‘I knew coming to the UTC would help me achieve my ambitions of working for Gestamp as an apprentice. The UTC have not only helped me achieve my GCSE’s but also supported me to get the apprenticeship. I can’t thank them enough for their support.’

If GCSE students are still deciding upon their next steps then there are still a few places remaining at the 6th Form. The UTC 6th Form is going from strength to strength and quickly becoming the place for employers to seek out their next employee with many coming directly to the UTC. Students and parents can book an appointment to meet senior leaders at www.utcsouthdurham.org/enrol-on-a-course

UTC South Durham is based in Aycliffe Business Park and opened in September 2016 founded by regional employers, Hitachi Rail EU and Gestamp Tallent in collaboration with University of Sunderland.

Applications for year 10 and year 12 studies for a specialist engineering and technical education at UTC are currently open, and booking for the next open evening is available on the UTC South Durham website: www.utcsouthdurham.org. For additional information call 01325 430250.