Test and measurement firm Spirent Communications has become the latest business partner of UTC Swindon, the town’s engineering-focused college.
The Sussex firm has donated laptops and tablets to the college, which has 600 students aged 14 to 19, to help engineering education through project focused, team-based learning. 
As UTC partner, Spirent will help shape its curriculum, create employer-led student projects and provide work experience for students.
UTC Swindon principal Angela Barker-Dench said: “These laptops and tablets, generously donated by Spirent Communications, are welcome additions to our IT inventory and significantly enhance our students’ learning experience.
“Partnerships between colleges and industry are central to Government thinking behind university technical colleges. This is a great example of a partnership in action.”
Spirent Communications director of operations for service experience Darren Cooke added: “Becoming a partner of UTC Swindon is a major step for us.
“As an innovative engineering organisation, Spirent wants to inspire young people and open their eyes to engineering in all its forms. Through this partnership, we can help UTC Swindon develop the engineers the UK will need in the future.”
Prospective students and parents will have the opportunity to discover more about what UTC Swindon has to offer at two upcoming open days at the college’s Bristol Street site on Saturday, April 18 and Saturday, June 20.
Visitors can go on a guided tour around UTC Swindon’s £10m state-of-the-art facility. The tour takes in light-filled workshops and classrooms that reflect the workplace, the lecture theatre and a hub area where students can generate ideas, socialise and inspire others. The tours will be available from 10am.
There will be presentations every hour from 10am and refreshments will be available throughout the day. College staff will be on hand to explain the curriculum. The open days begins at 10am and conclude at 3pm.
UTC Swindon’s facility includes the Old School Building and the iconic Water Tower. Both structures, which are Grade II listed, have been treated sympathetically, with the Water Tower being restored and brought back into educational use.
