UKSA’s Further Education student intake for September 2022 is its highest on record, increasing 220 percent on pre-pandemic figures in 2019, with 65 percent from those living on the Isle of Wight.

The world’s largest RYA centre and UK maritime charity has 35 students enrolled on its Maritime Foundation course alongside 13 students undertaking its Adventurous Outdoor Activities course. The total of 48 is the highest UKSA has seen since records began in 2010 – seeing a 77 percent increase on 2021 students and a 23 percent increase on 2020 figures.

Ben Willows, CEO of UKSA, said: “We’re delighted to have seen such a surge in the interest of our FE courses and notably a large proportion of those local to us on the Isle of Wight. These courses are specifically designed to enable young people to learn about and enter the maritime sector, which is full of exciting career opportunities. There are many options available after the completion of GCSEs and the maritime sector is not necessarily an obvious choice for many young people. However, UKSA’s programmes offer employment opportunities across a wide range of different avenues in maritime from watersports and apprenticeships in the wind farm and workboat sectors, to superyachting, and these young people starting their FE programmes have an amazing time ahead of them!”

The Maritime Foundation NCFE (Level 3 Introductory Certificate) two-year course is for school leavers and provides the perfect basis to enter the…