As the sole provider of further education in the constituency, Weymouth College is vital to the future hopes of many of South Dorset's young people. Richard has backed and encouraged the College's thriving apprenticeship programme since he was first elected. He teamed up with the College to create the first Apprenticeship Fair in 2014 and continues to speak at the annual Apprenticeship Week event.
Currently, Richard is supporting Weymouth College's bid to merge with Kingston Maurward College in Dorchester. Following a public consultation, final submissions will be made mid-May. If the proposal gets the green light to go ahead, the decision will be made by August 1, 2024
History of the campaign
Richard is currently supporting Weymouth College's bid to merge with Kingston Maurward College in Dorchester. The proposal will be open to public consultation. Final submissions go in in mid-May, after which a decision will be made on whether to go ahead by August 1, 2024. Richard believes that the combination of two such important further education colleges will strengthen both and bring more choice to prospective students.
Richard originally teamed up with Weymouth College to create the first Apprenticeship Fair in 2014. An enduring advocate for apprenticeships, he believes that 'earning while learning' is the ideal way forward for many young people who might be unsuited to academia.
Since then, the one-day event, combining local businesses, students and an inspirational speaker, has evolved into an annual Apprenticeship Week, with the College attracting over 500 apprentices every year. Notable keynote speakers have included Tim Martin, Founder/Chairman of the Wetherspoons empire, who said that, after studying for a law degree, he effectively took a three year apprenticeship in pubs, “making all the mistakes going and plenty more.”
“If you’re good at the academic side, it’s great but it’s overemphasised in our society,” he added, telling students that his best advice was to “keep working.”
Richard strongly backed Weymouth College's bid for £20 million to establish its essential new, engineering department, now up and running well. The College had already attracted new capital funding allocation of £421,000 from the Department for Education, for improving and upgrading the fabric and condition of the College.
“I have long supported Weymouth College," said Drax at the time, “High quality vocational and technical education requires institutions to have the buildings and facilities to support high quality teaching and training. With better buildings and facilities, the College will provide better opportunities for all its students."
The announcement of extra funding followed up on the Prime Minister’s commitment post pandemic that £200 million of the £1.5 billion to be spent on transforming further education colleges over five years, would be made available immediately.