Hull’s employer-led school, Ron Dearing University Technical College (UTC), is celebrating a decade of working closely with many of the region’s leading businesses.
2025 marks 10 years since a UTC in Hull was given the green light by the then Chancellor George Osborne. Since then, the school and its Employer Partners have equipped many hundreds of young people with the skills they need to thrive in the world of work.
The anniversary was marked at an employer breakfast event, when school staff and representatives from the partner companies and organisations celebrated the UTC’s successes, including recently retaining its Ofsted Outstanding status.
The idea of an employer-led school in the city was the brainchild of then MP for Hull West and Hessle, Alan Johnson, who is now Ron Dearing UTC’s Patron, and the project was driven forward by business leaders, including Charlie Spencer OBE, Executive Chairman of Hull-based engineering company Spencer Group, and Finbarr Dowling, who was then Project Director for Siemens Gamesa in Hull.
Following the Government’s approval of a UTC for Hull in 2015, the school opened its doors in September 2017 and has since welcomed over 2,000 students.
The school offers students a unique way to learn, giving them the edge in the competition for in-demand apprenticeships and university places. Since the school opened, 60% of students have gone on to university, while 40% have secured apprenticeships – 80% of these in the school’s priority sectors, including engineering, digital technology and creative digital.
Ron Dearing UTC now has more than 60 Employer Partners who work alongside the school’s experienced teaching staff to equip students with the skills, qualifications and maturity required by leading businesses and vital to supporting the growth of the region’s economy.
The Employer Partners are led by Founding Partners KCOM, Reckitt, Siemens Gamesa, Smith+Nephew and Spencer Group who, together with lead education partner, the University of
Hull, have worked closely with the school from day one.
