The UTC Sleeve initiative has been featured in an excellent Schools Week article on efforts by schools to prevent young people becoming NEET, in the wake of Alan Milburn’s interim Young People and Work report.

Kate Ambrosi, Baker Dearing’s chief executive, was interviewed for the piece and said there was “huge demand’ for sleeves, particularly in multi-academy trusts where there is a strong UTC nearby.

Schools need to have a more “acute” focus on destinations, and the sleeve programme aimed to help with that, she added.

“We are trying to help these young people get into the world of work in a broader sense. Being brilliant at one academic subject is not often a way to that.

“Not all our young people chose to go to a UTC because they were desperate to become engineers. Quite a few just saw an opportunity to change things for themselves and take on a more purposeful education.”

Simon Laheney, CEO of the Furness Education Trust which we are working with to deliver the Walney School UTC Sleeve, was also interviewed for the piece and said the initiative will “serve as a valuable resource” for schools by “strengthening opportunities and raising aspirations for the whole community”.

Thanks to Esme Kenney and Schools Week for this positive exposure for UTC Sleeves. Thanks also to Simon for helping promote this initiative and for his and his trust’s work, with partners such as Team Barrow, to make the UTC Sleeve in Barrow a reality.