City of Bath College has teamed up with national business leaders to nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs.
It is one of 23 colleges across the country dedicated to transforming further education to combat youth unemployment.
The College has been invited to join the Gazelle Colleges Group with the aim of broadening the education experience and building a culture of enterprise.
Member colleges work with private and public sector leaders to prepare students for self-employment and business start-up.
City of Bath College Principal Matt Atkinson said giving students an entrepreneurial mind set would help to promote economic growth.
He said: “City of Bath College is delighted to have joined the UK’s most forward-thinking group of Colleges in developing our strategies and approaches to enterprise and entrepreneurship.
“Ensuring the future success of all of our students is a major priority for us. Our goal is to make our students highly employable and working with the Gazelle Colleges Group will have a major impact on how we develop over the next few years.”
The Gazelle Colleges Group was formed in January 2012 to develop new cross-disciplinary learning models and partnerships with businesses.
It works directly with government and its members include Peter Jones and Doug Richard from Dragons’ Den and Claire Young from The Apprentice.
The group believes that qualifications will only be effective in the work place with a combination of employability skills and enterprise capabilities.
It aims to blur the boundaries between education and work by promoting national enterprise competitions and setting up mentoring relationships.
Students at City of Bath College will be encouraged to think for themselves, be decision-makers and consider self-employment and company set-ups as career options.
This meets the demand of the economy as the vast majority of jobs are now created by small companies and entrepreneurship is a growing trend.
City of Bath College is featured on the Gazelle Colleges Group website at www.gazellecolleges.com.
