Celebrating one year of Barrow’s first university campus

One year on, the campus has become an established part of the community, bringing university education closer to home for local people and helping create new pathways into higher-level study, skilled employment and lifelong learning, both retaining and attracting talent.

Pictured above: His Majesty King Charles speaking to University of Cumbria Mechanical Engineering student Scarlett Southcott

The opening represented the culmination of almost a decade of ambition and collaboration, with the University of Cumbria working alongside partners including BAE Systems, Westmorland and Furness Council, Furness College and local businesses and organisations.

As Barrow’s first university, the campus is transforming the town’s educational landscape by enabling people to study locally while developing the skills employers need in key sectors such as healthcare, engineering, advanced manufacturing and digital innovation.

Pictured above: Former Defence Secretary John Healey chats with academics from the university

The campus is the largest project within the government-backed Brilliant Barrow Town Deal and forms a central part of the Barrow Learning Quarter, an ambitious partnership designed to create stronger progression routes from education into employment.

A year of highlights:

• Schools and colleges: Around 950 students from approximately 26 schools and colleges across Cumbria and Lancashire visited the campus this year, taking part in a range of other activities that helped them explore future study pathways and career opportunities. This will continue to grow over coming years.
• Former Defence Secretary John Healey visited the new campus, highlighting its role in supporting Barrow’s defence and nuclear skills needs. In addition, we proudly participated in the visit to Barrow-in-Furness by His Majesty King Charles III, held to celebrate the Royal Charter being bestowed upon the Port of Barrow. 
• The Barrow campus continued to strengthen its relationships with major industry, civic, community and healthcare partners, including Nuclear Waste Services, Costain Group, Sizewell C, Team Barrow and the Cumbria Regional Supply Chain Network. The campus also hosted community leaders, local organisations, civic representatives, healthcare leaders and regional stakeholders to explore opportunities for collaboration and how the university can contribute to regeneration, education, skills development and wider community growth.
• Employers and partners came together to explore future workforce needs in engineering, advanced manufacturing and other growth sectors.
• The university joined the £23m STAND-UP doctoral programme, which will help train the next generation of nuclear engineers at Barrow.
• Community workshops with Barrowfull and artist ATMA helped shape ideas for new campus murals, while the university also hosted the launch of Barrow Does Comics, the inaugural event by Barrow BID.
• ACORN Culture Scheme funding was secured, creating hands-on training in robotics and remote-handling technologies for young people and professionals.
• Almost £4m of government funding was secured to expand engineering, robotics and computer science provision through the Barrow Future Force programme.
• The Arts Dividend Summit brought together civic and cultural partners to explore the role of arts and culture in Barrow’s regeneration, with headline speakers Darren Henley and Wayne Hemingway.
• The university became a founding member of the Defence Universities Alliance, strengthening its national role in defence skills, research and innovation.

Pictured above: Arts Dividend Summit headline speakers, Darren Henley and Wayne Hemingway, with the university's Vice Chancellor, Julie Mennell DL

The campus provides accessible higher education for people who may previously have faced barriers such as travel, time and cost when considering university study. It also provides opportunities for people already working in the area to upskill and reskill.

The university is working with partners to strengthen progression from further education into higher education and skilled employment, helping raise skills levels, improve job prospects and support the competitiveness of the local economy.

Professor Brian Webster-Henderson OBE, Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Cumbria, said:

“One year ago, we were incredibly proud to open the doors to Barrow’s first university campus. A year on, we can see the difference having a university presence is making – retaining and attracting talent, creating new opportunities, and helping inspire the next generation.

“Our ambition is to be a university in and for Barrow, working alongside our partners and the community to support the town’s long-term prosperity. This first anniversary is a moment to celebrate what has been achieved, but also a starting point for the exciting opportunities ahead.”

The University of Cumbria’s Barrow campus supports the university’s Towards 2030 strategy, with its focus on place, people and partnership, and its commitment to transforming lives and livelihoods in the communities it serves.