Scotland's Economy

Academies will be welcomed by employers

January 21, 2013 by Professor Alan Gilloran, Professor Alan Gilloran, Vice Principal at Queen Margaret University No Comments | Category Uncategorized

Last month I was very pleased to announce a £4.6 million award from the Scottish Funding Council for a pioneering training initiative for young people looking to work in tourism, healthcare, food and creative industries.

Developed at Queen Margaret University, in collaboration with Edinburgh College and East Lothian Council, the initiative will see up to 1,200 young people enter into specialist Academy training whilst they are still at school.

We have worked very closely with employers in developing the model, which follows on from the success of our Hospitality and Tourism Academy. A fundamental part of the Academy programme is work experience and mentoring, which helps our students understand the needs of their chosen industry.

Recruiting Academy students offers employers real benefits, such as reducing the need for in-house training not only in core subject areas, but also in the softer skills of customer service, timekeeping and overall attitude.

One large hotel group HR director believes the Academy approach to learning will improve staff retention as recruiters will favour those people who know the industry and have built up relevant work experience as they study.

Our Academy students, who come from secondary schools in East Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian and the Scottish Borders, follow the normal school curriculum, attending additional classes in their chosen field at College/University and gaining work experience with partner employers at weekends.

This new funding award enables us to now develop Academies in some of Scotland’s key growth areas such as healthcare, food and creative industries. Together with Hospitality & Tourism these disciplines represent the core flagships of Queen Margaret University’s education, research and knowledge exchange. I firmly believe this represents a turning point in Scottish education which will provide new opportunities to strengthen the skills of our workforce.

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