A NUCLEAR academy has given the seal of approval to high-quality training at a college.

The National Skills Academy for Nuclear has recognised Furness College as a High Quality Provider.

The Barrow college now forms part of a UK-wide network of high-performing providers which deliver excellence in skills training to equip the next generation of workers in the nuclear industry.

Mark Nicholson, deputy principal curriculum and quality at Furness College, said an employer panel had assessed provision from apprenticeships right through to the higher education delivered at the college’s new £4m Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Centre on the Channelside campus.

Mr Nicholson said: “It is great news for the college, our students and employers that the quality of our training has been recognised at every level.

“We will continue to develop our training programmes to ensure that students have the highly specialised skills needed to meet the demand from the nuclear sector.”

The college launched the Advanced Manufacturing and Technology Centre, the first of its kind in Cumbria, last month.

It is a state-of-the-art training facility packed with the latest high-tech equipment for students to work on as they learn at the cutting edge of engineering. It was opened by the chairman of the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, George Beveridge, as part of the area’s 10-year strategic economic plan.

Liz Hearnden, operations manager at NSAN, said: “NSAN only appoints the very best providers of skills development and education for the nuclear sector to be part of our High Quality Provider network.

“By carrying the NSAN logo, providers are easily identifiable by nuclear business as training organisations that will provide them with the quality delivery they require.”

NSAN was established in 2008 by nuclear employers and government to address the key skills challenges facing the nuclear programme. It is the industry’s leading, not-for-profit, membership organisation for the sourcing and provision of skills solutions.