New ‘bite-sized’ qualifications to boost the agricultural and food manufacture industries

Hundreds of workers within the Agricultural and Food Manufacture sectors in the Lincolnshire region could benefit from free ‘bite-sized’ courses to upskill and reskill, helping to get more people into higher wage and higher skilled jobs.

Enhanced funding through the In-Work Skills Pilot programme has been secured by Riseholme College and partner further and higher education providers, in a collaborative bid by the Lincolnshire Institute of Technology (LIoT).

Over £300,000 of funding has been allocated to the LIoT to deliver a series of short modular courses to help plug skills gaps in key sectors such as agriculture and food manufacture.

Riseholme College is part of the Lincolnshire Institute of Technology and will deliver a new ‘bite-sized’ course which will focus on the use of precision agriculture systems. The course will give farming businesses and employees new skills and opportunities to engage with the latest technologies, to help improve productivity, reduce emissions, pollution and soil erosion.

The new short course will be rolled out by the College from late autumn this year and will focus on Agricultural Technology, Data Handling and Communications. Utilising Institute of Technology facilities and resources, which have been developed through a £1.3m investment from the Department of Education, businesses and employees will gain practical and theoretical learning opportunities to help achieve optimum farming results with the smallest environmental impact.

Bill Meredith, Principal and CEO at Riseholme College said;

The short course will be delivered through a mix of face-to-face practical sessions and remote learning, giving working adults flexibility in how and when they learn. They will be available to working adults within the agricultural sector in the Lincolnshire region. Further progression opportunities are available at the college to develop higher level technical skills and knowledge in precision agriculture, through focused higher education study programmes.

Riseholme College is a specialist land-based education provider, located near Lincoln. The College delivers a broad range of college and degree level specialist, technical education through hands-on courses ranging from Agriculture, Equine and Animal Management, through to Sport, Public Services, Engineering and Construction. The College is ranked within the top 5% of colleges nationally for its Level 3 provision (DfE), as well as being rated Ofsted ‘outstanding’ for the care and support given to its students.

For more information, please contact our Services to Business team on servicestobusiness@bishopburton.ac.uk.