How John Leggott College Is Building Future Talent with Employers Across North Lincolnshire

John Leggott College recently brought together employers from across North Lincolnshire and the Humber region for an Employer Appreciation Event, a breakfast and networking morning on campus that celebrated the partnerships shaping what happens to JLC students after they leave education.

The event was an opportunity to say thank you. But it was also a chance to share the numbers, the stories and the direction of travel, and to make the case for why employer engagement with sixth form colleges like JLC matters more now than it ever has.

A College Rooted in Its Community

John Leggott College became a sixth form college in 1968, following the reorganisation of local education in Scunthorpe. More than fifty years later, it remains one of the most important educational institutions in North Lincolnshire, and its roots in the local economy run deep.

Scunthorpe's industrial heritage, built on steel production and manufacturing, has shaped the communities JLC serves. Higher education progression rates in the area have historically been lower than the national average, and JLC has long understood its role in changing that. Raising aspirations, widening participation and supporting social mobility are not aspirational slogans at JLC. They are the practical reality of what the college does, year after year, for young people in Scunthorpe and the surrounding area.

The college's values reflect this. Students at JLC are encouraged to be creative, curious, reflective, compassionate, conscientious, resilient and ready. These qualities sit at the heart of the JLC Culture and run through everything from academic study to pastoral support and careers guidance.

Why the Employer Partnership Has Never Mattered More

The Employer Appreciation Event was a recognition that the landscape JLC students graduate into has changed significantly.

Historically, the majority of students at JLC progressed to university, and higher education remained the primary destination for most learners. That is still true for a significant proportion of students: approximately 60 per cent of the Year 2 cohort apply to university. But the range of destinations has broadened considerably over the past decade.

Higher and degree apprenticeships, direct employment, gap years and vocational pathways now represent a substantial and growing share of where JLC students go next. That shift reflects changing student aspirations, but it also reflects the growing role employers have played in shaping what the college offers and how it prepares young people for the world of work.

JLC's mission is to support individual student success while also responding to national, regional and local workforce needs. Employers consistently identify communication, adaptability, problem-solving, resilience, teamwork and professionalism as essential skills for the modern workplace. JLC's approach is designed to develop these attributes alongside academic achievement, helping to address current and emerging skills gaps across key sectors in North Lincolnshire.

The Upskill Programme: What Employer Partnership Looks Like in Practice

At the heart of JLC's employer engagement work is the Upskill Programme, a strategically planned skills-enrichment initiative designed to ensure that all students, regardless of their starting point or subject area, have access to structured and meaningful professional development experiences.

The programme operates across four strands.

Skills Audit supports students in identifying their own strengths, areas for development and personal starting points before they engage with employer-led activity. This gives the subsequent elements of the programme more impact, because students arrive with a clearer sense of what they are looking to develop.

Skills Workshops focus on the transferable skills employers consistently say they value most: communication, teamwork, leadership and problem-solving. These sessions are practical and structured, giving students frameworks they can apply immediately in work-based settings.

Employer Briefs place students in realistic, employer-informed scenarios and ask them to apply what they have learned. Rather than abstract classroom exercises, these briefs are grounded in real workplace challenges, making the learning immediately relevant.

Higher Education Progression Interactions increase students' awareness of university pathways, progression routes and future opportunities, ensuring that students considering higher education have the knowledge and confidence to make informed decisions.

The results of the programme have been significant. In the 2024/25 academic year, JLC recorded 1,146 work-based opportunities across the college. In the current 2025/26 academic year, that number has already reached 1,733 recorded work-based opportunities across Level 2, Year 1 and Year 2 students. That increase demonstrates the direct impact of stronger employer partnerships and a more consistent approach to embedding industry into the curriculum.

Student Stories: Where Employer Engagement Leads

The Employer Appreciation Event included a focus on individual student journeys, which brought the numbers to life in the most direct way possible.

Muhammad Abdullah, a current JLC student, joined the Aspire MDV Upskill Programme and completed work experience placements at Oak Tree Medical Practice and Scunthorpe Orthodontics. He also took part in the Melior Reading Buddy scheme, run in partnership with JLC, and attended Summer Schools supported by the college's careers team. He has secured a place to study Dentistry at university.

James Burnett, a current student at John Leggott Humber, undertook work experience with British Steel and GEV, and attended open days and progression trips to British Steel, Orsted, HETA, VolkerRail and Phillips 66. 

He has secured an apprenticeship with British Steel.

Lola Reynolds, a current JLC student, joined both the Aspire MDV Upskill Programme and the Aspire Oxbridge Programme. She completed work experience at With Me in Mind and took part in the Melior Reading Buddies scheme, before attending the Sutton Trust Summer School. She has secured a place to study Medicine at the University of Cambridge.

Three students. Three very different destinations. All shaped, in part, by the employer connections and work-based experiences that JLC's partnerships make possible.

The Employers Who Make It Happen

JLC's employer network spans a wide range of sectors and organisations across North Lincolnshire and beyond. 

The Employer Appreciation Event brought together partners including British Steel, HETA, Ongo, the NHS, Nolan Interiors, and North Lincolnshire Council, alongside many other organisations that have supported student development through work experience, employer briefs, open days and progression events.

Each of these organisations brings something distinct to students' experience. Sectors from housing and healthcare to engineering and manufacturing are represented, reflecting the genuine breadth of career pathways available to students in this part of the country.

JLC's alumni record shows what becomes possible when those pathways are nurtured. Former students of the college include actor Kevin Doyle, ITV journalist Nina Nannar, BBC weather forecaster Darren Bett, Gold Medal Olympian Alistair Brownlee and Gordon Dougan, Biochemist and Professor of Medicine at the University of Cambridge. The talent has always been in Scunthorpe. 

The employer partnerships help to unlock it.

A Thank You to Every Employer Who Has Given Their Time

None of what appears in this post happens without people. Behind every work experience placement, every employer brief, every open day visit and every progression trip is someone who chose to give their time to a young person they had not yet met.

To every employer, manager, engineer, clinician, housing officer, administrator and professional who has opened their doors to JLC students, taken time out of a working day to deliver a session on campus, or simply answered a student's questions honestly and generously: thank you.

The impact of that time is impossible to overstate. For many students, a single day of work experience or one conversation with an industry professional is the moment something clicks. It is the moment a career path moves from abstract possibility to something they can genuinely picture for themselves. That shift in confidence and direction is not something a classroom can always provide on its own. It comes from real people in real workplaces, and it comes because those people chose to show up.

We are proud of every partnership JLC has built across North Lincolnshire and the Humber region. We are grateful to the organisations that continue to invest in the next generation of talent from this area. And we look forward to building on everything that has been achieved together.

How Your Organisation Can Get Involved

JLC is actively seeking to deepen and broaden its employer partnerships for the benefit of students across all subject areas and year groups. Whether your organisation can offer work experience placements, contribute to employer briefs, deliver a skills workshop or simply attend an open event, every form of engagement makes a difference to the students who take part.

If you are an employer in North Lincolnshire or the wider Humber region and would like to find out more about how to get involved, visit leggott.ac.uk or get in touch with the team directly through the Contact Us page.

For information about the career pathways and programmes available to students at JLC, visit the Courses page or explore employer and community partnership information on the About Us section of the site.

The partnership between JLC and employers in North Lincolnshire is not a nice-to-have. It is part of how this college does its job. And the results speak for themselves.

FAQ Section

What was the JLC Employer Appreciation Event?

The Employer Appreciation Event was a breakfast and networking morning held at John Leggott College in Scunthorpe. It brought together employers from across North Lincolnshire and the Humber region to celebrate and develop the partnerships that provide JLC students with work-based learning opportunities, employer briefs, and industry connections.

What is the JLC Upskill Programme?

The Upskill Programme is a skills-enrichment initiative at JLC designed to ensure all students have access to structured professional development experiences, regardless of subject area. It includes Skills Audits, Skills Workshops, Employer Briefs and Higher Education Progression Interactions. In the 2025/26 academic year, 1,733 work-based opportunities have already been recorded across the college.

Which employers partner with John Leggott College?

JLC works with a wide range of employers across North Lincolnshire and the Humber region, including British Steel, HETA, Ongo, the NHS, Nolan Interiors, North Lincolnshire Council, Orsted, VolkerRail and Phillips 66, among many others. These partnerships provide students with work experience placements, open days, employer-led briefs and progression trips.

How can an employer get involved with JLC?

Employers interested in partnering with JLC can get in touch through the Contact Us page at leggott.ac.uk/contact-us. Opportunities include offering work experience placements, contributing to employer briefs, delivering skills workshops, and attending employer networking events on campus.

What destinations do JLC students progress to?

JLC students progress to a wide range of destinations including university, higher and degree apprenticeships, and employment. Recent examples include a student studying Dentistry at university, a student who secured a British Steel apprenticeship, and a student who gained a place to study Medicine at the University of Cambridge.