University of Lincoln and Lincoln College Group Strengthen Collaboration to Shape Skills and Futures Across Greater Linc

The University of Lincoln and Lincoln College Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, forming a strategic alliance to create more opportunities for people to develop the skills needed to support Greater Lincolnshire’s future economy. The agreement sets out plans for the two institutions to work more closely across further and higher education, technical training, apprenticeships, research and innovation.

The partnership brings together the expertise and resources of both organisations to create clearer pathways into education, training and employment, while helping businesses more easily access the skills and talent they need to grow. Both organisations will keep their own independent identities, working more closely together and alongside employers and other partners to make education and training opportunities easier to access and navigate and to anticipate future workforce needs.

The alliance will initially focus on Defence and Security. Lincolnshire is home to one of the UK’s largest concentrations of Royal Air Force capability, alongside a growing defence and security ecosystem, including a network of defence and security businesses, research organisations and burgeoning dual-use innovation. Lincoln College has Defence Technical Excellence College (DTEC) status, while the University of Lincoln is a founding member of the Government’s Defence Universities Alliance, bringing expertise in areas including artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and engineering.

Working alongside employers and other partners, the two institutions will explore how these strengths can be better connected to create clearer routes into careers in the sector, from technical education and apprenticeships through to higher education, professional development, and research and innovation.

The partnership has wider ambitions to strengthen collaboration across other sectors important to the region’s future, including agri-food and agri-tech, advanced manufacturing, energy, health and care, and AI and digital technologies. The University and Lincoln College Group will also work with the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority and other regional partners to support the ambitions of the region’s Local Growth Plan, and will explore opportunities to involve other education providers, employers, public services and industry partners.

Professor Neal Juster, Vice Chancellor of the University of Lincoln, said: “Greater Lincolnshire has enormous potential and realising that potential means ensuring that people have access to the skills and opportunities that our future economy will need. The University and Lincoln College already make significant contributions individually. This alliance is about seeing what is possible when we connect our respective strengths and begin thinking about education and skills as a system serving the needs of our region.

“Defence and Security provides an exciting place to start because Lincolnshire already has an extraordinary concentration of capability. But our ambition extends much further, into the sectors that will shape Greater Lincolnshire’s economy for decades to come.”

Mark Locking, Chief Executive and Principal of Lincoln College Group, said: “We want to make the journey from school through technical education, apprenticeships and higher education into employment and continuing professional development clearer and easier to navigate for all of our learners, young and old. For employers, closer collaboration offers an opportunity to anticipate future workforce needs and respond before skills shortages become a barrier to growth.”