Boys' attainment: UTC featured on BBC for best practice

A young man wearing a suit and tie, speaking to a camera. In the background is the UTC's engineering workshop.

29 July 2025

“Visionary” UTC featured on BBC Look North for supporting boys’ attainment

The “visionary” UTC South Durham was featured on BBC Look North for the support it provides young boys who struggled at their previous school, after concerns were raised at a national level about boys’ attainment.

The film features a T Level student of the UTC Jenson Burrows, who enrolled at age 14, is now progressing onto a degree apprenticeship, and said: “Being able to come here and learn in different environments while maintaining a strong academic level of learning was something I was really interested in.”

Principal Tom Dower says on the film that boys become “demotivated” in the classroom and “we need to make sure that they are treated as the young professionals and adults we want them to become and that we make their education as relevant as we can.”

Concerns have been raised at a national level about the attainment of boys in school, with Bishop Auckland MP Sam Rushworth calling on the government to put together a national strategy to tackle the issue.

Rushworth told MPs earlier this month:

“Evidence shows that boys thrive when, rather than being treated as a problem, they are trusted within a culture of high expectations, when we set them up to succeed, and when they know that their learning is relevant and will take them somewhere. The coded message in our current curriculum is that society values academic excellence over development of technical skills and know-how. It is as if we have replaced the 11-plus with a 16-plus exam, where those who get good GCSE results go on to sit A-levels, which are given higher esteem, and those who fail are pushed towards vocational courses, as though those skills are lesser.

“A good example of a school that is bucking that trend, which is attended by some of the young people from my constituency, is the University Technical College South Durham, in Newton Aycliffe, which Ofsted recently rated as one of the happiest schools in the country. I have met some of its students. They all have familiar stories about how they were previously suspended and in trouble all the time at school, but when they attended the UTC they found purpose. They build relationships, promote leadership and make a child feel known, and that works—the children are thriving, boys included.”

29 July 2025

“Visionary” UTC featured on BBC Look North for supporting boys’ attainment

The “visionary” UTC South Durham was featured on BBC Look North for the support it provides young boys who struggled at their previous school, after concerns were raised at a national level about boys’ attainment.

The film features a T Level student of the UTC Jenson Burrows, who enrolled at age 14, is now progressing onto a degree apprenticeship, and said: “Being able to come here and learn in different environments while maintaining a strong academic level of learning was something I was really interested in.”

Principal Tom Dower says on the film that boys become “demotivated” in the classroom and “we need to make sure that they are treated as the young professionals and adults we want them to become and that we make their education as relevant as we can.”

Concerns have been raised at a national level about the attainment of boys in school, with Bishop Auckland MP Sam Rushworth calling on the government to put together a national strategy to tackle the issue.

Rushworth told MPs earlier this month:

“Evidence shows that boys thrive when, rather than being treated as a problem, they are trusted within a culture of high expectations, when we set them up to succeed, and when they know that their learning is relevant and will take them somewhere. The coded message in our current curriculum is that society values academic excellence over development of technical skills and know-how. It is as if we have replaced the 11-plus with a 16-plus exam, where those who get good GCSE results go on to sit A-levels, which are given higher esteem, and those who fail are pushed towards vocational courses, as though those skills are lesser.

“A good example of a school that is bucking that trend, which is attended by some of the young people from my constituency, is the University Technical College South Durham, in Newton Aycliffe, which Ofsted recently rated as one of the happiest schools in the country. I have met some of its students. They all have familiar stories about how they were previously suspended and in trouble all the time at school, but when they attended the UTC they found purpose. They build relationships, promote leadership and make a child feel known, and that works—the children are thriving, boys included.”