No skills, no STEM, no jobs: without local training, North Dorset risks becoming a housing corridor with no future for its young people

When the Government recently invited proposals for general further education colleges to become one of ten construction technical excellence colleges (CTECs), local MP Simon Hoare wasted no time in raising the profile of North Dorset in parliament. His request to the Secretary of State for Education for departmental support for a technical college was met with an opaque response from Janet Daby, parliamentary under-secretary of State for Education: ‘The area of North Dorset is well served by four neighbouring further education colleges and a range of independent training providers, who provide a broad range of technical and vocation provision.’
The response was dismissive: it may have ticked the box but it missed the point.
The real question isn’t about how North Dorset fits on a national map of provision – it’s about the future of our local economy and our young people. Why is a technical college so important for North Dorset?

The gap
North Dorset does not currently have a technical college to bring skills to the local area. Students wanting to train in science, engineering and technical skills have to leave the area to train in Bournemouth, Weymouth and Yeovil. Many do not return, finding a new life in other parts of the region.
So what difference would a technical college make to the North Dorset economy and future jobs market?
The economic resilience of a community lies in the strength of its local workforce, and while that relies on recruiting people to work, the aspect that often gets overlooked is training, which can maintain a sustainable supply of skilled workers.
Training and developing people in technology, science and engineering can be a game changer when it comes to attracting businesses to an area. The shortage of science and technology skills in Britain is estimated to cost the economy £1.5 billion a year. With local facilities available, regions can move from poverty and high unemployment to a thriving economy – technical colleges bridge the gap between the available workforce and the evolving requirements for the job market. In a rural area, a construction and technical college would open up a plethora of opportunities.
Build it here
Councillor Val Pothecary has been working to get a science technical college in Gillingham for a long time. In June she raised the further education gap at a meeting on the economy at Dorset Council (see video below): ‘We have further education colleges in the south of Dorset but we have very little in the north. We have a fantastic high school in Gillingham, which draws in kids from all over. But they have nowhere to go for further education. They can’t get to Bournemouth or Weymouth and back in a day.
‘Wages are lower in North Dorset. We need to encourage bigger and better businesses to come here. We have the land. If we could get technology businesses it would be great.
‘However, the skill shortage in the area is the reason they don’t come. If we could get really good quality further education resources here, we would get forward-thinking businesses – including those involved with STEM* and green energy. We are being told to build many more houses – but we need jobs as well.
‘Why should all the further education budget go to the south of the county? If we could have some of it here in the north, we could massively improve education and wages. It would change the landscape of North Dorset – we could have opportunities with things like robotics.
‘Not everyone wants to go away to study, and some don’t have the academic suitability. A local college would make travel more affordable to our young people. If we can come up with the right plan and get a partnership with one of the universities, we can open up so many opportunities.’

Four-hour commute
The Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership has published a report on its strategy for economic growth via skills improvement in Dorset** to meet the critical gaps in STEM subjects. Published in March 2025, the report focuses on areas surrounding higher and further education colleges: there is absolutely no mention of North Dorset in the paper. This misses the opportunity to spread skills training and make it more accessible. One glance at the ‘opportunities map’ for development shows a sharp cluster of options in the BCPO area, and a significant gap anywhere further north of Dorchester.
Cameron Shaw is 16, from Sturminster Newton, and is about to go to Yeovil College to study automotive engineering: ‘I’ll be in further education and then hopefully get an apprenticeship. It is – and isn’t – easy to get an apprenticeship at the moment: there are lots of places offering them, but the competition is very high.
‘There’s just more going on in Yeovil – more businesses, more options. Compared to somewhere like Stur … well, there’s not a lot in Stur. I have my own transport and the college provides support with fuel costs.’
While Cameron does not think a new college in North Dorset would make a difference to his own personal situation, he can see the value for those who don’t have transport, for example:
‘It could be good – people who don’t have transport have to spend four hours on a bus getting to Yeovil and back each day.’

Looking back to look forward
Robert Boyle, he of Boyle’s Law and one of the founding members of the Royal Society and a pioneer of modern science, spent much of his life in Stalbridge. In 2027, North Dorset will mark the 400th anniversary of his birth – a timely opportunity not just to celebrate his legacy, but to reignite the area’s scientific spirit. What better tribute than to invest in the next generation of innovators? A technical college – the Robert Boyle Institute? – in the Blackmore Vale wouldn’t just fill a skills gap – it could become a lasting legacy of scientific excellence, rooted in the very landscape that shaped one of Britain’s greatest scientific minds.

• STEM subjects are science, technology, engineering and mathematics
  ** Click to read the full Framework for Economic Growth for the Pan Dorset Area report