£170 million competition launched for new Institutes of Technology

Employers, education and training providers can apply for a share of £170 million to establish prestigious new Institutes of Technology (IoTs), which will specialise in delivering the higher level technical skills that employers need.

The Department for Education (DfE) has opened the application window for employers, Higher Education and Further Education providers to apply for multimillion-pound capital funding, as outlined by the education secretary at last month’s Skills Summit.

IoTs will see businesses and education and training providers working together to deliver provision to learners that is highly sought after by employers, in technical disciplines, particularly STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths).

Education secretary Justine Greening said: “Institutes of technology will play a vital role driving our skills revolution with business and unlocking the potential of our country’s young people through better technical education. By bridging the country’s skills gaps, these new institutions will drive growth and widen opportunity.”

These new institutions will help tackle the skills gap at a local, regional and national level and extend opportunity to thousands of people.

IoTs are just one of the skills reforms outlined by the Secretary of State on the 30 November at the Department for Education’s Skills Summit which brought together education experts and some of the country’s top employers to forge a new alliance to deliver a skills revolution.

The first IoTs are expected to be open in 2019.