New technical college to boost advanced manufacturing skills for space supply chain
- Apr 29
- 1 min read
County Durham is set to benefit from a major national investment in a new technical excellence college, focused on developing advanced manufacturing skills that are vital to the space sector supply chain. Led by New College Durham, the initiative will support training in high-value technical disciplines that, while not exclusively space-focused, are essential to the design, production and scaling of space technologies. For Space North East England, this investment strengthens the wider talent pipeline, helping ensure the North East has the skilled workforce needed to support innovation, attract investment and enable businesses to enter and grow within the space economy.
New College Durham (NCD) has announced it has been chosen as one of only four colleges across the country to have been recognised as an Advanced Manufacturing Technical Excellence College (TEC).
TECs will work with employers, representative bodies, trade unions, strategic authorities, and local government to provide people with better training and job opportunities, and to generate the highly trained workforce that local economies need.
NCD is one of the few Further Education (FE) colleges that have been awarded ‘technical excellence status’ by the Department for Education, recognising its deep specialisms in priority skills areas. The college has earned its status due to its continued demonstration of excellence in provision of specific priority technical skills in Advanced Manufacturing. Its model of innovative teaching and curricula excellence will be used to drive greater coordination and collaboration across the advanced manufacturing sector.
