At York College & University Centre, we’re proud to work closely with more than 1,000 employers, industry partners, other educational providers, sports associations, community groups and charities across York, North Yorkshire and beyond.
These strong partnerships enrich our students’ experience, strengthen employability skills, support business growth, raise awareness of careers in different industries and create meaningful opportunities for local people and businesses.
We work in partnership with more than 1,000 employers across the region to help shape the workforce of the future through apprenticeships, work placements and corporate training.
These partnerships ensure that students gain essential employability skills while giving employers early access to emerging talent. Notable employers we work with include Barratt Redrow, Portakabin, Severfield, Northern Rail, City of York Council, Aviva and Fera.
Our apprenticeship provision is growing each year, and we currently offer them in the following sectors:
• Business & Professional Services
• Construction
• Digital & Media
• Early Years & Education
• Engineering
• Hair, Beauty & Media Make-up
• Health & Social Care
• Hospitality
• Motor Vehicle
• Science
As part of our apprenticeship offering, we provide a comprehensive apprentice recruitment support service: we help to advertise employer vacancies and hold regular Open Events and apprenticeship fairs, where we promote apprenticeship vacancies and invite employers along to talk with potential candidates and carry out the initial sift of applications. This ensures that our employers only receive suitable candidates for selection to interview.
Work placements are the ideal way to introduce young people to the realities of working life. For businesses, they can provide an insight into what young people can offer, whilst helping you to train and potentially recruit your next generation of employees. We offer short work placements of 35 hours (five working days) and longer placements up to 315 hours (45 working days). Both placement options are flexible and can be undertaken in one, or in longer blocks upon negotiation.
Our dedicated placement team works hard to nurture long-term relationships and create a bespoke model that is meaningful for both parties. Meanwhile, our business partnerships team arranges regular employer advisory group meetings for each curriculum area to discuss industry standards. This ensures that our placements are structured to meet the needs of the specific sector.
We also hold regular employer events where businesses and curriculum staff talk about the two-way benefits of the placements.
Corporate training
Our corporate training programmes are designed to provide cost-effective training solutions to upskill your staff and elevate your business. Our training solutions can be tailored to meet the unique needs of your business and be custom designed to meet your specific training requirements. Subject areas include:
• Leadership & Management
• Microsoft Skills
• Business Enhancement
• Compliance & Safety
• First Aid and Health & Well-being
With access to a variety of industry experts, we can cover the majority of your training needs.
Industry partnerships
We have built up strong links with industry partners from the local region and further afield. These businesses regularly attend College events in order to develop our students’ employability skills, raise awareness of careers in different industries and discuss specific roles within an organisation.
Our industry partners get involved with student projects and events, competitions, employer forums, speed interviews and student talks, as well as charity initiatives, community activities and staff CPD opportunities. We also regularly organise site visits for students to get a real-world insight into their chosen industry.
Our business partnerships team attends networking events organised by York Professionals, the West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, the York RLFC Business Hub, Business Over Breakfast and others to look for new opportunities for us to work together with local industry partners.
Educational partnerships
We are proud to have built up strong partnerships with educational institutions locally, regionally and internationally. From our landmark collaboration with York College of Pennsylvania to our collaborative work with colleges, schools, universities and employers – our educational partnerships create opportunities for international student exchanges, shared curriculum development and cross cultural learning experiences.
We also work closely with other educational institutions and the Department of Education (DfE) to deliver the Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIF), helping to shape the future of skills provision across the region. As a lead partner of the Yorkshire & Humber Institute of Technology (YHIoT), we are contributing to deliver cutting edge technical education that’s aligned to industry needs.
Sporting partnerships
Our sporting partnerships create meaningful links between education and professional sport – giving talented students aged between 16 and 19 the opportunity to combine academic study with high-quality coaching through one of our Development Centre teams. We currently have Development Centres in the following areas:
• Men’s and Women’s Football
• Men's and Women's Rugby League
• Basketball
• Netball
• Esports
Our newly formed partnership with York RLFC is designed to provide professional sports career pathways to students and strengthen community ties. It will support the development of future rugby league talent through the York Knights/York Valkyrie x York College Development Centre and give our students hands-on experience in the world of professional rugby league, including exposure to a professional sporting environment on the Betfred Super League stage. Meanwhile, our Academy College Programme with York City FC enables us to further professionalise our football offering to encompass the whole of our football programme, including both men’s and women’s teams.
Community & charity partnerships
We are committed to supporting the communities we serve across York and North Yorkshire. From York’s monthly Menopause Café to MS society support groups, sports clubs and youth theatre groups, we hire out our accessible College facilities at heavily discounted rates to local community groups. Students and staff also get involved in regular charity fundraising events for our chosen charities, which are currently St Leonard’s Hospice and children’s and young people’s mentoring service The Island York. Recent fundraising activities have included a Christmas hamper appeal and an Accumulator Challenge.
We also celebrate and strengthen our community connections through sponsored events – including our annual REACH Awards and Construction Awards, which recognise outstanding student achievements and the support of local partners.
Sponsorship opportunities
We have a range of sponsorship opportunities available to business partners of York College & University Centre including our annual REACH and construction award ceremonies.
Sponsorship ensures that we are able to continue to hold prestigious events to recognise the achievements and contributions of our students.
Our sponsorship packages add value to businesses and offer opportunities to work and celebrate collaboratively.
Read our Business Partnerships newsletters
Q1 February 2025 - click here
Q2 May 2025 - click here
Q3 August 2025 - click here
Q4 December 2025 - click here
The Skills Innovation Fund
The Skills Innovation Fund is part of the Mayoral Investment Funding, created to boost skills development across the York and North Yorkshire region. The programme is designed to encourage innovation and enhance— or build—capacity through collaborative, place‑based approaches.
The first funding round opened in February 2025, with £2,220,386 awarded to successful applicants who are now beginning delivery.
A second phase has now been launched to distribute the remaining £200,900, specifically for independent training providers with an established presence in York and North Yorkshire. This phase aims to strengthen and expand the capacity of these providers, supporting them to innovate and adapt their delivery to better meet the needs of learners and employers.
Please note: applications for this phase have now closed. Funding decisions will be confirmed by the end of March 2026, with approved projects starting from April.
Business Partnerships | partnerships@yorkcollege.ac.uk | 01904 770234
Apprenticeships | apprenticeships@yorkcollege.ac.uk | 01904 770368, option 1
Placements | placements@yorkcollege.ac.uk | 01904 770830, option 2
