South Coast Institute Of Technology

The South Coast Institute of Technology (IoT) is a collaboration of five further education colleges and two universities – Solent University, University of Portsmouth, Havant and South Down College, Brockenhurst College, Fareham College, Eastleigh College, and The Isle of Wight College. It will open to new students from September 2023, and is expected to welcome over 1,000 students across the seven educational partners in the first academic year.

It will deliver a wide range of flexible post-16 technical education including  Higher Technical qualifications, apprenticeships, degrees, and professional qualifications. These courses can lead to a wide range of exciting and dynamic career pathways, from superyacht engineers, or manufacturing wind turbines, to researching long-term sustainable solutions to climate change, and building virtual production film sets.

PMc are proud to have supported the South Coast IoT project partners from the support we provided in the initial drafting of the Business Case through to the design and delivery of projects on site. We have worked collaboratively with Solent University – as the Accountable Body and each of the Further Education college partners to:

· help write the education & skills business case;

· complete concept stage 2 designs;

· apply for and secure £14 m of funding; and,

· deliver the projects from Stage 3 design through to construction on site.

The development of the IoT projects has close involvement with the Department for Educations IoT project team throughout the two-stage bidding stage and into project delivery. We have valued the support and challenge of the DfE capital team throughout this process.

Building work started in the summer of 2023 on capital projects to create industry-standard facilities, including the construction of new Centres of Excellence (CoE) and the expansion of existing centres across providers.  Some projects will start on site in 2024 ready for the 2024/25 academic year.

The £14 million government investment will help fund:

· creation of a Marine Engineering Centre of Excellence at Solent University,

· construction of an extension to provide additional facilities at Fareham College’s CEMAST campus in Lee-on-the-Solent,

· a new higher education digital centre and expansion of CECAMM at The Isle of Wight College,

· refurbish engineering and digital facilities at HSDC South Downs Campus,

· new equipment at the marine technology centre at Brockenhurst College

The South Coast IoT is central to ensuring a sufficient home-grown workforce with the right skills to meet industry needs. It is working with key employers including, the Royal Navy and Portsmouth International Port, and has support from key local employers such as IBM, QinetiQ, Leonardo, Maritime UK Solent, GKN, DDC, and Teemill.

It aims to increase education and employment opportunities across maritime, engineering and digital industries. A key priority of the initiative is to support individuals from under-represented groups to foster valuable connections and access sustainable, well-paid careers.

Matt Johnson, Director of the South Coast Institute of Technology says, “This is a fantastic opportunity for our education partners to work collaboratively with employers to provide clear career pathways into the industries where we know there are gaps.

“The maritime, engineering and digital industries are some of the most diverse and rapidly expanding sectors in our region, with tens of thousands of job vacancies for talented people. Our high-quality training, industry-expert educators, real-world curriculum and state-of-the-art equipment and facilities will help local people to live, study and work locally and realise their potential.”