Working with business
GCU's Institute for University to Business Education works collaboratively with more than 300 employers in Scotland to ensure the skills, knowledge and experience of students are aligned with business and industry needs and opportunities.
The team collaborates across the University’s academic schools to target subject matter expertise, solutions and programmes to tackle issues ranging critical and scarce skills gaps in the economy, the mobilisation of people through career pathways through to mainstream workforce development issues.
U2B specialises in work-based learning and its application through a portfolio of responsibilities that incorporates Transnational Work Based Education, Graduate Apprenticeships, Upskilling and Reskilling Courses, Credit Rating Services and general employer and client relationship management.
As Scotland’s largest provider of Graduate Apprenticeships, GCU delivers apprenticeship programmes covering Cyber Security, AI and Data Science, Software Development, Accountancy, Engineering Design Manufacture, Civil Engineering, Construction Management (Quantity Surveying) and Business Management.
Internationally, we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of our partnership with South Africa’s Transnet SOC Ltd – the state-owned company running Africa’s largest railway, the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and the Chartered Institution of Railway Operators (CIRO). To date, 1,145 Transnet employees have achieved work-based undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications, with a further 700 Transnet employees currently continuing their studies.
In 2022, our cyber security course became the first Scottish apprenticeship to achieve the full National Cyber Security Centre Certification. The course enables graduates to develop innovative solutions for real-world problems and reflect on their wider impact in the business world. We also launched the ‘Women do Cyber’ programme in partnership with the Cisco Networking Academy Programme (CNAP) and Scottish Women in Technology (SWIT).
Dr Jackie Riley, head of the Department of Cyber Security and Networks at GCU, said: “We need to address the skills gap in women. By collaborating with organisations and businesses to create support networks, internship opportunities and professional certifications, we are opening the cyber sector to women who would otherwise not have considered it as a career.”
A GCU-led project to foster sustainable fashion skills across Europe was highly praised by a Portuguese minister. Rita Andrade hailed the "entrepreneurial spirit and the originality" of Sustainable Fashion Employability Skills (SFES). The project, led by GCU's Dr Lindsey Drylie Carey, involves universities in France, Portugal, and Spain and has the backing of Harris Tweed Hebrides and Tendam, one of Europe's largest retail groups.
Food scientists have also been working closely with the bioindustry and the Scottish Funding Council Standard Innovation Voucher Scheme to fund research projects and boost opportunities for students.