As part of an ongoing collaboration between Sunderland Software City and SKOPE, we delivered a programme of activities focused on reflecting on tertiary education and training in the North East of England. This included a policy sandpit and panel discussion as part of TechNExt25, which brought together policymakers, educators, technologists, researchers and industry leaders to explore alternative, more integrated conceptualisations of tertiary education, challenge dominant assumptions about post-16 pathways, and strengthen dialogue between policy, research and practice.  

Alongside this, the collaboration supported the delivery of five learners’ workshops with college, university, apprenticeship and lifelong learners across the region, creating safe spaces for participants to share their experiences of the current system and contribute ideas for a more coherent, accessible and regionally responsive education and training landscape.