University Technical Colleges (UTCs) and STEM-Based Education in the UK

Sarah Fisher Sarah Fisher February 3, 2022

1 min read

What are University Technical Colleges (UTCs)?

In 2009, University Technical Colleges (UTCs) were established in the United Kingdom as STEM-focused, government-funded institutions advocating for a new approach to education. Their mission? To help students move beyond linearity into a more dynamic, do-it-yourself learning environment that focuses on the application (versus the theory) of skills.

University Technical Colleges embrace active, experiential learning as a way for students to gain technical skills and develop creative, independent minds. The Baker Dearing Trust, the organization behind UTCs, states “While knowledge is as necessary as ever, it is no longer enough. Abstract knowledge and reasoning need to be linked to the ‘real world’ through practical applications.”

From the beginning, there has been a natural affinity between Autodesk and the Baker Dearing Trust, sharing a similar mission to prioritize teaching relevant skills to help students succeed in industry. Of the 47 UTCs in the UK, 37 focus on helping students prepare for future engineering careers; to support these goals, Autodesk and UTCs across the UK have teamed up to reinvent engineering and STEM-based education.

Beyond offering professional-level engineering software at no cost, Autodesk subject-matter experts work with individual UTCs to build out learning content that aligns with their forward-thinking curriculum. University Technical Colleges also leverage Autodesk Fusion 360 – a cloud-based, collaborative platform to help students learn the end-to-end engineering process in one ecosystem.

 “Autodesk gave our students the education they need not just for now but for the future,” says David Court, director of engineering at UTC Reading. “More importantly, it also gives our students the education that industry demands from them.” In addition, UTCs partner with local small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) and corporations to imbue industry trends and knowledge into the curriculum. Students effectively simulate an industry environment in the classroom by working on professional-level projects in professional-level software.

______
icon-svg-close-thick

Cookie preferences

Your privacy is important to us and so is an optimal experience. To help us customize information and build applications, we collect data about your use of this site.

May we collect and use your data?

Learn more about the Third Party Services we use and our Privacy Statement.

Strictly necessary – required for our site to work and to provide services to you

These cookies allow us to record your preferences or login information, respond to your requests or fulfill items in your shopping cart.

Improve your experience – allows us to show you what is relevant to you

These cookies enable us to provide enhanced functionality and personalization. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we use to deliver information and experiences tailored to you. If you do not allow these cookies, some or all of these services may not be available for you.

Customize your advertising – permits us to offer targeted advertising to you

These cookies collect data about you based on your activities and interests in order to show you relevant ads and to track effectiveness. By collecting this data, the ads you see will be more tailored to your interests. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

icon-svg-close-thick

THIRD PARTY SERVICES

Learn more about the Third-Party Services we use in each category, and how we use the data we collect from you online.

icon-svg-hide-thick

icon-svg-show-thick

Strictly necessary – required for our site to work and to provide services to you

Qualtrics
W
Akamai mPulse
W
Digital River
W
Dynatrace
W
Khoros
W
Launch Darkly
W
New Relic
W
Salesforce Live Agent
W
Wistia
W
Tealium
W
Upsellit
W
CJ Affiliates
W
Commission Factory
W
Google Analytics (Strictly Necessary)
W
Typepad Stats
W
Geo Targetly
W
SpeedCurve
W
Qualified
#

icon-svg-hide-thick

icon-svg-show-thick

Improve your experience – allows us to show you what is relevant to you

Google Optimize
W
ClickTale
W
OneSignal
W
Optimizely
W
Amplitude
W
Snowplow
W
UserVoice
W
Clearbit
#
YouTube
#

icon-svg-hide-thick

icon-svg-show-thick

Customize your advertising – permits us to offer targeted advertising to you

Adobe Analytics
W
Google Analytics (Web Analytics)
W
AdWords
W
Marketo
W
Doubleclick
W
HubSpot
W
Twitter
W
Facebook
W
LinkedIn
W
Yahoo! Japan
W
Naver
W
Quantcast
W
Call Tracking
W
Wunderkind
W
ADC Media
W
AgrantSEM
W
Bidtellect
W
Bing
W
G2Crowd
W
NMPI Display
W
VK
W
Adobe Target
W
Google Analytics (Advertising)
W
Trendkite
W
Hotjar
W
6 Sense
W
Terminus
W
StackAdapt
W
The Trade Desk
W
RollWorks
W

Are you sure you want a less customized experience?

We can access your data only if you select "yes" for the categories on the previous screen. This lets us tailor our marketing so that it's more relevant for you. You can change your settings at any time by visiting our privacy statement

Your experience. Your choice.

We care about your privacy. The data we collect helps us understand how you use our products, what information you might be interested in, and what we can improve to make your engagement with Autodesk more rewarding.

May we collect and use your data to tailor your experience?

Explore the benefits of a customized experience by managing your privacy settings for this site or visit our Privacy Statement to learn more about your options.