Milestone for engineering school as UTC Portsmouth breaks first ground

Future engineers will soon be able to learn their trade as the University Technical College Portsmouth hosted its ground breaking ceremony today.

The Lord Mayor of Portsmouth and other special guests gathered to mark the major milestone for the £10m school building, which is being built in the grounds of Trafalgar School in Hilsea.

UTC Portsmouth is led by the University of Portsmouth, the Royal Navy, Salterns Academy Trust and Portsmouth City Council, supported by major employers including BAE Systems, QinetiQ, AirBus, NATS and Land Rover BAR. 

“This marks another tremendous milestone on the journey to create what will deliver an ongoing legacy of high quality young engineers for Portsmouth and the wider region,” said Lieutenant Commander Fiona Haynes, the Royal Navy’s project manager for UTC Portsmouth.

“It is a great privilege to be involved in such an exciting venture on behalf of the Royal Navy as lead employer partner.”

The school also announced its newly-appointed Principal, Ciaran O’Dowda. Ciaran will officially join the school in January, ahead of its opening in September 2017, and has more than 26 years of education leadership experience. He has been the head teacher of Crofton School in Fareham for four years. Ciaran said:

“I’m really excited about taking on this role. Being Principal of UTC Portsmouth is a unique opportunity to make a difference to the education and future careers of the young people from the region.

“My aim is to work with pupils and parents to make sure they get the best from our school. I want students to have the motivation and opportunity to exploit their knowledge, ability and talent. When they leave, I want them to have enjoyed their time at UTC Portsmouth, to have flourished and to go on to be successful in their chosen future path – whether that’s further education, employment or apprenticeship.”

The school will start taking applications for admission from across the Solent region in September 2016 for year 10 and year 12 students and will specialist in electrical and mechanical engineering and advanced manufacturing.

UTC Portsmouth will offer an engineering curriculum alongside the core GCSE subjects in years 10 and 11 and a range of options including Level 3 engineering diplomas and A Levels in years 12 and 13.

Visit www.utcportsmouth.org for more information about how to apply.