At UTC South Durham we encourage all students to work with industry partners to complete a project. The projects are a wide variety of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) challenges that students have to problem solve.
Students self select the project that interests them the most, get placed into small project groups and then are allocated a mentor from industry and are given 12 weeks to complete the challenge.
Upon completion of the challenge, students exhibit their work to industry partners and members of the public. Projects are an excellent way of introducing students to industry related problems, helping them to develop their project management skills and are also an excellent way of expanding their work place skills.
Previous students who have taken part in the projects have been spotted by industry partners as ones to watch. All students who complete an industry project receive a silver or gold Industrial Cadets Accreditation and their project also goes towards their The Baker Award for Technical Education.