Leeds City College

Last week, Leeds City College’s Quarry Hill campus hosted a podcast which saw four panellists come together to discuss topics surrounding digital skills development and esports in the region.

The podcast forms part of the Skills World Live roadshow created by the CEO of the Federation of Awarding Bodies, Tom Bewick, which aims to provide analysis of the key issues affecting employers, students and learning providers across the UK.

The episode was produced as a collaborative effort between Skills World Live and Leeds City College, with some of our students forming part of the technical team to film the show being recorded, as well as students asking questions to the panel.

This event provided our students with a unique opportunity to go behind-the-scenes and find out more about how podcasts are made and how to operate the equipment used to record them.

Level 3 Creative Media student, Owen, who was responsible for operating the microphones and sound mixer, said: “It was fun to take on the role I did, sound is always so interesting to work with and I found the experience really useful.

“I also found it insightful to see what the panellists had to say and to experience this style of podcast.”

The questions asked by our students covered a range of different sectors from digital and e-sports to healthcare, and focused on how employers and educators can help to tackle the widening skills gap or recruitment issues in these areas.

We also got to hear some personal stories from the panel, including what their educational journeys were like and their advice for stepping into the world of work.

One of the questioners, T Level Health student Tanatswa, said: “I found some of the stories from the panellists inspirational.

“It is reassuring to know that people can go on to be successful even after they’ve had setbacks, and that it’s never too late to develop new skills and interests.”

Head of Education at British Esports, Kalam Neale, said: “I think conversations surrounding how we can best prepare students for employment in a digital-first world are vitally important.

“I’ve found that often students develop soft skills such as teamwork, communication and time management that are attractive to employers, regardless of what they choose to study.

“It’s important that we encourage young people to recognise that they already have these skills and in turn we need to work with employers to establish what skills they are looking for in a future workforce”

The episode will be available on the Skills World website from 4pm on Friday 14 October.