Open Evening and Careers Fair events proved popular recently at Forth Valley College’s Falkirk and Stirling Campuses – with hundreds of people attending.
The events at Stirling on Tuesday 4 March and at Falkirk on Thursday 6 March promoted courses and training available at the College as well as job opportunities – with a record number of 25 companies and organisations attending the Falkirk Campus event to promote apprenticeships, vacancies and careers.
The events were arranged to coincide with Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2025 and ran from 4pm – 8pm each evening. They gave prospective students the chance to find out more about the wide range of course opportunities available, including full-time courses for August 2025 entry, partnership degrees with some of Scotland’s leading universities, Modern Apprenticeships, school partnership provision including Foundation Apprenticeships, evening courses, industry training courses and flexible and online learning programmes.
Job seekers, including those looking to change careers, and workers affected by the planned closure of the Petroineos Refinery, were also encouraged to come along to speak to various employers who hosted information stands at the events.
In addition, college support teams – including FVC’s Petroineos Response Project Team – were available to offer careers advice and answer questions on funding, learning support and applying to college.
Companies who attended the Falkirk Campus event to provide information on opportunities available, included: SP Energy Networks; Swanton Care & Community; ExxonMobil, MacTaggart Scott Ltd; Network Rail; Oil States Industries UK Ltd; Skills Development Scotland; Semco Maritime; Forth Ports Ltd; FoundOcean; RISE-Forth Valley; Trillium; Dales Marine; Subsea7; Malin Group; Briggs Equipment; Heriot-Watt University; Jarvie Plant; CVS Falkirk & District; RSE Group; and ECITB.
Skills Development Scotland, Resilience and Thrive Scotland also hosted a stall at the Stirling Campus event.
The events also served as a great opportunity for potential students and their families to look around the College’s fantastic buildings and meet the teams face to face, who can help them make an informed decision about which course is right for them.
Kenny MacInnes, Principal of Forth Valley College said: “Our two Open Evening and Careers Fairs have proved to be very popular and we were delighted with the turnout from potential new students at both events.
“I attended the Falkirk Campus event and I saw first-hand how it offered a fantastic opportunity for people to come along and find out about the different options available to them – which included the wide range of courses we have available at the College, such as full-time courses, Modern Apprenticeships, school partnership courses, and degrees .
“It was also very encouraging to welcome people affected by the planned closure of the Petroineos Refinery, and I am sure they used the opportunity to come along and speak to our advisors, talk to potential employers, and to check out our facilities and find out more about potential future training.
“Thanks to everyone who was involved in making these two events a great success.”
Acting Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, Gillian Martin, said: “I am very pleased this event was a success. This is a great indicator of the range of potential careers and opportunities open to people from the Grangemouth and the surrounding areas.
“We want to ensure that Grangemouth continues to offer these kinds of opportunities in a low-carbon economy in the future. That is why we have provided up to £450,000 to support a skills assessment and retraining for affected refinery workers in particular, and why the First Minister announced a further £25 million last month to help ensure a secure and sustainable future, not just for the refinery site, but for the whole area.”
UK Government Energy Minister Michael Shanks, said: “We are committed to securing good onward employment for affected Grangemouth refinery workers and making good on the UK and Scottish Governments’ pledge to fund training and support workers into new jobs.
“We’re working closely with Forth Valley College to ensure workers can take advantage of the skills and support package, including this week’s skills fair. We will continue to spare no effort to drive this work forward, enabling workers to take up the skilled jobs of the future, alongside securing a long-term future for Grangemouth.”
If you want to find out more about courses available at Forth Valley College visit www.forthvalley.ac.uk or call 01324 403000.
