Students attending Bournemouth & Poole College are to have guidance with their employability skills, thanks to the opening of the college’s first ever Career Ready hubs.

More than £105,000 in growth deal funding was awarded to the college by Dorset LEP to create the facilities at its sites at Lansdowne and North Road, in aid of a project addressing skills gaps.

Rebecca Davies, head of Enterprise, Skills & Industry at Dorset LEP, said: “We’re extremely pleased to have been able to provide this vital funding to The College, to help give guidance to students at a very crucial time in their lives. It can be such a challenging stage for young people when nearing the completion of their courses as they begin to feel pressure to start their dream careers.

“We hope the new Career Ready hubs alleviate that pressure and will give students the attentive advice they need to discover what their next steps will be.”

To celebrate the opening, Bournemouth & Poole College hosted a launch evening, which also acted as a double celebration with principal Diane Grannell being awarded a certificate for achieving all eight Gatsby Benchmarks. The certificate, awarded by Catherine Beater of the Careers and Enterprise Company, is a national benchmark to ensure the careers services provided are of a high standard.

The Career Ready hubs will allow students to book personalised and impartial sessions either in-person or remotely to receive employability development and individual tailored career guidance. The hubs will also include facilities for industry liaison, employer workshops and Employer Advisory Boards, guest speaker sessions and other activities to help students with their career journey.

Pippa Allner, personal development manager at Bournemouth & Poole College, said: “It is of absolute importance to The College that we provide our students with the very best careers guidance and skills development when it comes to them taking on the next chapter in their lives.

“Whether it’s continuing with an apprenticeship or higher education with us or leaving the college completely to find their dream career, we want to ensure they are best equipped to tackle that change. We are so grateful to Dorset LEP for being able to make these Career Ready hubs a reality, and we know that this will totally shape the lives of our alumni here at Bournemouth & Poole College.”