Hybrid vehicle workshop brings new skills training for technicians

READING College has opened up a new skills hub which will be used to give new skills to vehicle technicians.

After Activate Learning was awarded £130,000 by the Thames Valley Berkshire local enterprise partnership, the education and training group installed a brand new workshop.

The hub at Reading College, King’s Road, features industrystandard training equipment, including a hybrid car and training rigs.

The workshop is designed to help existing motor technicians upskill, learning how to maintain hybrid and electric vehicles.

Scott Reilly, Director of Curriculum Design at Activate Learning, said: “In terms of curriculum development, preparing our students to thrive in industries that use emerging technologies and renewable energy put us at the heart of cultivating the best talent to meet the sector’s skills need.

“We are also excited because it offers an opportunity for adult learners to retrain or upskill to improve their career prospect.

Mr Reilly said that the technology curriculum at Activate Learning is responding to local and national needs.

“Learning environments are being transformed into inspiring industry-level spaces that reflect our highest professional standards and affirms our innovative and outstanding technical learning.”

The new facilities will enable the introduction of a new full-time qualification which includes electric vehicles as a focus, as well as introduce electric vehicle modules to its current courses.

It has also allowed the college to hold two-day courses which provide attendees with a level 2 qualification in the knowledge required to work safely around electric or hybrid vehicles.

The current course runs from April to June.

Alison Webster, Chief Executive of Thames Valley Berkshire LEP, said: “The further education and training sector has a valuable role to play in the achievement of our sustainability goals, so we’re delighted to have funded the new electric and hybrid vehicle skills hub at Reading College.

“Berkshire LEP recognises that a critical part of ensuring the UK meets the local, national and international sustainability goals is to support the provision of training to help people acquire the skills to work in a future green career.

“We are delighted to be able to support the College in and the training the next generation of auto technicians in Berkshire.”

The project is the third of its kind to have been unveiled in recent weeks.

The Thames Valley

Berkshire LEP funded both an upskilling workshop at Bracknell and Wokingham College, which was unveiled on Tuesday, April 19, and an applied sciences centre which opened at Reading College back in March.

The enterprise partnership is a multi-sector initiative to drive sustainable economic growth in Berkshire through government and European funding.