In January, T Level students from Newbury College visited Grant UK’s headquarters to learn more about air source heat pumps and attend a dedicated training session to “support their wider plumbing and heating studies”.
Newbury College is a careers-focused education provider which delivers full and part-time courses and qualifications to students. It is situated 30 miles from Grant UK’s headquarters in Swindon. The college asked Grant UK if it could deliver a heat pump training session to some of its Year 1 T Level students and become one of the College’s Skills Partners.
A total of 10 students joined the visit, all of whom are studying for a T Level qualification in Construction and Building Services Engineering. A statement said that during their three year course, students undertake a mixture of learning including classroom based teaching, industry placements and employer engagement sessions. The course involves students learning about the whole building environment, it noted, from electrics through to plumbing and heating. As one of its Skills Partners, the statement added that Grant UK is able to deliver employer engagement sessions to students including product training.
During their visit, the students received a tour of Grant UK’s facilities in Swindon including its Training Academy where they had “hands-on experience” with heat pumps in the Academy’s dedicated air source heat pump workshop.
Shaun McCarthy, one of Grant UK’s technical sales support engineers, held a tailored training session where the students gained insight into electric heating, received an introduction to heat pumps and learned how air source heat pumps work.
Newbury College found the heat pump training and visit to Grant UK’s facilities “a beneficial trip” with feedback from both the students and staff being “incredibly positive”.
Sarah Mackfall, industry placement co-ordinator at Newbury College, said: “As a careers professional, I believe strongly in the value of Employer Engagement. To be allowed into the world of a business, through visits such as the one organised with Grant UK, gives the students ideas they maybe hadn’t considered as to which route they may go down. It is always thought provoking for them.”
Nick Thomas, T Level BSE Course at Newbury College, added: “Site visits and industry placement opportunities are such a key element of the T Levels. The trip to Grant UK helped with reinforcing the curriculum in real life, real workplaces. This adds value to the learning experience, making the connection between classroom and industry.”
One of the students who attended the visit to Grant UK wrote: “The team at Grant UK were very welcoming and informative on its technology – they provided a useful insight as to how heat pumps operate, and how Grant UK operates as a business. This was probably the best employer engagement activity I have done with the college.”
Grant UK stated that it is looking forward to welcoming more of the foundation year and Years 1 and 2 students from Newbury College to its headquarters in the future.