About the programme
The Lord Bhattacharyya Engineering Education Programme is an initiative launched by the Academy in March 2020. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is funding the five-year programme in memory of the late Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya CBE FREng FRS, founder of WMG at the University of Warwick (formerly Warwick Manufacturing Group). Lord Bhattacharyya led WMG for nearly 40 years until his death in March 2019. He was a leader in industry-academia collaboration, and was extremely passionate about inspiring the next generation of engineers and technicians.
Purpose and benefits
We have worked in close partnership with WMG to bring together a network of 25 secondary schools and colleges, linked to employers, universities, and other stakeholders across the region to create a sustainable programme. We are enhancing and enriching the STEM curriculum and raising students' skills levels by providing links to real-world engineering. This raises their aspirations and develops their knowledge of engineering careers and the pathways into them. We are working hard to encourage more young people, particularly those from under-represented groups, to progress into engineering and technician roles in this exciting industry.
Each year, we will provide:
- up to £2,500 of in-house grants to our network of schools and colleges to develop a library of resources and experiences for students, enhancing the ‘E’ in STEM and celebrating national events such as Tomorrow’s Engineers Week and British Science Week
- STEM Challenge Days for students to excite, inspire, and stimulate interest
- access to a peer-to-peer support network for our STEM teachers, providing the opportunity to share resources and best practice
- teacher CPD and Academy educational resources to introduce students to real-world engineering
- bursaries, worth £2,000, to support students progressing on to STEM A Levels and vocational engineering qualifications within the region
- up to 10 bursaries, each worth £15,000, to support students who will study engineering at a UK university
- up to 10 industrial placements for college lecturers to develop skills that can be brought back into the classroom
- opportunities for inter-collegiate and industry collaboration to share best practice and engender a supportive, sustainable network
We are pleased to have established a regional programme that delivers engineering-focused STEM education support for both students and their teachers. The West Midlands has a long and proud heritage of engineering, so by enabling students’ progression into further and higher education, we aim to build a skills base that can contribute to the engineering profession’s future needs, both locally and nationally.
Schools and colleges currently involved with the programme:
- Barr's Hill School, Coventry
- Blue Coat Church of England School and Music College, Coventry
- Colmers School and Sixth Form College, Birmingham
- Coventry College
- Eden Girls’ School, Coventry
- Ernesford Grange Community Academy, Coventry
- Etone College, Nuneaton
- Harris Church of England Academy, Rugby
- King Edward VI Northfield School for Girls, Birmingham
- Light Hall School, Solihull
- Lyndon School, Solihull
- Meadow Park School, Coventry
- Nicholas Chamberlaine School, Bedworth
- North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College (Nuneaton Campus only)
- Rugby Free Secondary School, Rugby
- Rugby College (part of Warwickshire College Group)
- South and City College Birmingham
- St Thomas Aquinas Catholic School, Birmingham
- Sidney Stringer Academy, Coventry
- Solihull College & University Centre
- The George Eliot School, Nuneaton
- The Nuneaton Academy, Nuneaton
- The Avon Valley School and Performing Arts College, Rugby
- WMG Academy for Young Engineers, Coventry
- WMG Academy for Young Engineers, Solihull
This is a current programme launched in March 2020, in partnership with WMG at the University of Warwick
