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    Leonardo Case Study

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    Leonardo has been a founding partner of the West of England Institute of Technology (WEIoT) since it was first considered and bid for in 2018.

    Leonardo and Yeovil College have been working in partnership for nearly 60 years to improve the educational opportunities of young people. The two organisations are a natural fit, with Leonardo requiring a pipeline of highly skilled early careers joiners to maintain the competitive edge of its Helicopters business, while Yeovil College looks to support extraordinary futures for its students.  

    Thousands of Leonardo trainees have been educated at Yeovil College and many of these have stayed with the company for significant parts of their careers, in some cases achieving senior leadership positions. Recent company managing directors originally joined Leonardo as apprentices. In the 2021-22 academic year, 50% of engineering apprentices at Yeovil College across all years were Leonardo apprentices. 

    In one example of the two organisations’ close working relationship, and with the opportunities presented as a result of the West of England Institute of Technology (WEIoT), the College has worked with Leonardo to tailor its Engineering Degree programme curriculum to make it laser-focused on real world challenges. In collaboration with Leonardo and the University of Plymouth, Yeovil College has set up new units designed to prepare learners for the engineering tasks Leonardo focuses on a daily basis and ready them for the digital future of the international helicopter industry (e.g. Computer Aided Engineering for Composites). 

    All of this means that Yeovil College students are exceptionally well equipped for the world of work, which is good for Leonardo and good for other local and regional organisations that need young people with skills in areas such as precision engineering and metalwork. The college’s overall engineering provision represents around £1.2 million of income to Yeovil College each year.  

    The college is currently training over 90 Leonardo Engineering Apprentices, contributing around £800,000 in funding over their four-year programmes from the Leonardo Apprenticeship Levy. Yeovil College also trains non-engineering apprentices and is currently educating 14 Leonardo Apprentices in business administration, as operational/department managers and as installation and maintenance electricians.

    Mark Bolton, CEO and Principal at Yeovil College, commented:

    Thousands of Leonardo trainees have been educated at Yeovil College. Our number one priority is to maximise the potential of each and every one of our learners. Through our work with Leonardo, we can be sure that the skills, knowledge, and behaviours we are teaching will lay the groundwork for successful careers.”

    Lynda McVay, Director of Skills and Capability at Leonardo, said:

    Leonardo is increasing its early careers population by 50% over the coming year. Across the UK, we plan to hire an additional 300 apprentices, bringing the total number of young people on our early careers schemes to 900. The success of this initiative, amongst others, will be helped by the great partnerships we have with local education leaders.”