Thom Lafferty, chief executive at The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) and Jamie Coates, head of people resourcing and retention at PAHT, visited Stansted Airport College in March on a fact finding visit to learn more about how Stansted Airport College supports young people to take on apprenticeships through hands-on training and experience.

PAHT signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) last year (2024) with Harlow College which was developed to align them as strategic partners to develop a purpose-built Health and Science Academy, based at Harlow College, using the Stansted Airport College as a model. One of PAHT’s strategic objectives is to directly align Harlow College’s Health and Science curriculum, with roles in health and care for West Essex. 

This will build on the continuously developing working relationship between Harlow College and PAHT that already supports a number of initiatives including:

Supported internship programme: A work-based study programme that helps young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) into employment. There are eight Harlow College interns currently at the Trust and recruitment is underway for the third programme due to start in September.

T Levels for health and science: PAHT welcomed its first cohort of T Level Health students from Harlow College in March at the start of their two-year programme. Students are undertaking placements in various departments including audiology, Eye Unit, theatres, maternity and the Older Person’s Assessment and Liaison (OPAL) Unit.

Volunteer to Career programme: A pathway within the voluntary services team at PAHT which provides an opportunity for volunteers to learn new skills and potentially lead to a future career in healthcare. This programme, which was first introduced in 2024, has seen two people successfully gain employment at PAHT.

Recruitment events: PAHT run bespoke recruitment events for Harlow College Health and Science students which have resulted in 10 offers of employment.

Thom Lafferty, chief executive at PAHT said: “The visit to Stansted Airport College was very insightful, giving us the opportunity to see first-hand how the facility supports young people with hands-on training experience, and supports apprenticeships in the aviation industry. The prospect of a Health and Science Academy to support young people into the healthcare sector is very exciting too and we look forward to working with Harlow College to develop that further and bring the concept to life.

“In the meantime, we will continue to work closely with Harlow College to support young people to gain the skills and knowledge to help them gain access to a wide variety of careers on offer here at PAHT, including healthcare support workers, porters, cleaning and catering staff; which involve the use of simulated ward environments and new, virtual reality simulation technology.”

Karen Spencer, Principal and CEO of Harlow College, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome Thom to Stansted Airport College, and discuss how Harlow College developed it as a Centre of Technical Excellence, supporting a major employer. Thom could see how we could translate the model to the healthcare sector and we are excited to be developing our partnership with PAH.”

Victoria Clayden Smith, Head of Centre at Stansted Airport College, added: “Our students showcased their industry skills for Thom and colleagues. They could really see the work-readiness skills and how we develop young people’s knowledge, skills and behaviours. We talk to students about how any visitor to the College could be your next employer. We were particularly impressed with one of our Engineering students, Abdul, who took the opportunity to put himself forwards as a possible apprentice.”

Pictured (left to right): Jamie Coates, Head of People Resourcing and Retention at PAHT, Karen Spencer, principal and CEO of Harlow College; Victoria Clayden Smith, Head of Centre at Stansted Airport College and Thom Lafferty, Chief Executive at PAHT