Living the dream – the Yorkshire dancers behind new TV show

Written by James Beaumont on March 31, 2025. Posted in News, Other

West Yorkshire’s Mayor, Tracy Brabin, has praised new TV show Dreamers for shining a light on Leeds’ – and the region’s – vibrant performing arts scene.

The six part coming-of-age dance drama, which was filmed in and around the city, is being aired now on Channel 4.

The show follows the ups and downs of a group of dancers who are part of the ‘Chapeltown Collective’, with most of the cast coming from Leeds City College or Leeds Conservatoire.

Ms Brabin, who during her acting career starred in hit TV dramas including Eastenders and Coronation Street, said: “I’m thrilled to see these inspirational dance students starring in this new hit series from Leeds-based production company Duck Soup.

“They are the living proof that if you want to make it as a creative you can make it in West Yorkshire.”

For cast members like Mika Rowe-Bailey and Tyler Pickles, their involvement represents an exciting step into television – and their first brush with fame.

Tyler, a 23 year old Acting graduate from Leeds Conservatoire, plays Liam while Mika, who works and studies at Leeds City College, plays Zaki. They are joined on the show by Leeds City College students Princess Neila Mubaiwa, Demarkus Marks, Lewis Aird, Morgan Reynolds, Keldon Copeland and Luke Tyson.

Mika, 25, said: “Dreamers is a powerful representation of Leeds, particularly the vibrant dance scene in the North.

“It shines a light on the importance of community dance spaces, especially in areas like Chapeltown, and emphasises the strength of community and friendship. The show captures the raw energy and talent that thrives here.

“There’s a wealth of talent here, and Dreamers has also provided opportunities for local people to develop their skills in the film and TV industry. We’re often told to relocate to London or Manchester, but Leeds is a thriving hub for dance and the creative arts.”

Like many of the cast, Mika – who has a performance background in Bradford and Leeds – first got involved after spotting an audition poster, and was cast in 2023.

Tyler, meanwhile, from Pudsey, is a skilled actor, dancer and choreographer. He landed his role after being encouraged by friends and staff at the conservatoire to apply, eventually securing the part of Liam, who he sums up as ‘a bit of a rogue’.

Describing Dreamers as ‘This is England meets Fame’, Tyler said: “It’s something that we all definitely enjoyed being a part of.

“We’ve all kind of developed as a family, not a term I use lightly, because this was our first time doing this. So we were all in it together and went through the entire process together.

“We formed it through improvisation so it’s very much ours as much as it is the director’s.”

The Dreamers’ storylines are inspired by the real story of dance in Leeds – and specifically the example of RJC Dance, in Chapeltown.

As such, the show features lots of intricate dance routines based around the contemporary Afrobeat fusion style – arranged, in large part, by former professional dancer and choreographer Dawn Holgate.

Dawn, a Course Leader in HE Creative Arts at University Centre Leeds, said: “I had a wonderful experience working with the cast and crew. Part of my role was to bring together eleven cast members, most of whom were unfamiliar with each other, and create a sense of unity and camaraderie.

“Their on-screen presence needed to feel like a cohesive collective. It was exciting to experiment, workshop ideas, and play around.

“I’m so excited Dreamers is finally on our screens. It was an honour to be involved and to have played such a key role. Hopefully friends and colleagues will enjoy it.”

Ms Brabin, meanwhile, says West Yorkshire Combined Authority is taking steps to help others break into the performing arts. She said: “I want every creative to have the same opportunities that I had, which is why we’re stepping up with tangible support for freelancers and microbusinesses, and investing over £60 million to provide training opportunities to everyone who needs them.”

Leeds City College, Leeds Conservatoire and University Centre Leeds are all members of Luminate Education Group. 

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Luminate Education Group marks major milestone as Mabgate Campus development reaches topping out stage

Written by James Beaumont on March 4, 2025. Posted in Environment, News

Luminate Education Group is celebrating a key milestone in the transformation of Mabgate Campus, as the £27 million development reaches its topping out stage.

Delivered in partnership with GMI Construction Group, the project is turning a once-derelict site into a flagship centre for  adult education in the heart of Leeds. The new development will provide 70,000 sq.ft of high-quality, sustainable learning space and plays a vital role in Luminate’s mission to widen access to education, support progression, and regenerate local communities.

Mabgate Campus is already home to  Leeds City College’s RE workshop and studios for Leeds Conservatoire. This next phase of development includes a five-storey campus for University Centre Leeds, a purpose-built space for Leeds City College’s adult learners, and a central atrium cafeteria linking new and existing facilities. The design prioritises sustainability, with low-carbon heating systems and energy-efficient features built in throughout.

The project also includes the sensitive restoration of Studio 24 – a much-loved former arts venue, preserving its character while integrating it into the campus’s future as a creative and inclusive learning environment.

David Warren, Group Vice Principal of Development at Luminate Education Group, said:
“This milestone marks another step forward in our commitment to delivering high-quality learning environments. The new facilities will replace outdated buildings, providing cutting-edge spaces for University Centre Leeds and Leeds City College adult students. Thanks to funding from the Department for Education’s capital transformation programme, we are ensuring that more students and adult learners can access the education and training they need. It’s fantastic to see the project progressing so well.”

GMI Construction, a Leeds-headquartered company, began work on the site in 2023.

Ed Weston, Commercial Director for Yorkshire at GMI Construction, added:
“Reaching the topping out stage at Mabgate is a key milestone in this landmark development. As a Leeds-based company, we are proud to contribute to the regeneration of this area while enhancing the facilities in this space. This investment will create outstanding opportunities for students and deliver lasting benefits to the region.”

The project forms a key part of Luminate Education Group’s wider strategy to invest in sustainable, inclusive, and high-quality learning environments across the region.

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Luminate CEO Colin Booth Responds to Spring Statement

Written by James Beaumont on March 26, 2025. Posted in News

Following the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, Colin Booth, Chief Executive of Luminate Education Group, welcomed the recognition of rising NEET (not in education, employment or training) rates as a national challenge – but warned that without urgent investment in further education, the issue will only deepen.

Colin Booth, Chief Executive of Luminate Education Group, said:

“The Chancellor was right to emphasise growing numbers of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) as a barrier to economic growth and opportunity. Given projections for increased numbers of 16-18-year-olds in the coming years, urgent action is required to ensure NEET rates do not spiral out of control between now and 2030.

Ensuring there is capacity to provide education and training opportunities that lead into employment or further study represents a central mission for further education colleges and should represent a central pillar of the Government’s strategy to reduce NEET rates. Many colleges in areas with already above average NEET rates, such as Leeds, already operate at maximum capacity.

While the current funding environment is predictably tight, investment must be found to grow further education colleges’ student capacity if the Government is serious about reducing NEET rates. Alongside this, it’s critical investment is matched with adequate funding that reduces college teacher recruitment and retention difficulties, as without the staff to educate and train growing numbers of young people, the NEET rate will predictably only rise further.”

As numbers of young people increase nationally, Booth’s message is clear: colleges must be equipped with the space and staffing to deliver on their mission – helping every young person find a meaningful route into work or further learning.

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Chancellor visits Pudsey Sixth Form College construction

Written by James Beaumont on February 28, 2025. Posted in Environment, News, Partnerships

Rachel Reeves, member of Parliament for Leeds West and Pudsey and Chancellor of the Exchequer, recently toured the under-construction Pudsey Sixth Form College and met with prospective students.

The new sixth form college, expected to host around 700 learners, is set to open its doors to its first cohort of students in September this year. The new sixth form is being created due to the changing post-16 landscape, with many schools that have a sixth form provision increasingly facing challenges to continue providing a viable offer that meets the needs and expectations of young people as they progress. 

Rachel Reeves MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “I was delighted to see the progress being made in developing this new sixth form in my constituency. Speaking to future Pudsey Sixth Form College students while on the visit, their positivity around being able to remain in the local area to attend sixth form was clear. Without the creation of this large new sixth form college, many prospective students would instead have to travel further afield for their sixth form education.

A key reason behind the creation of Pudsey Sixth Form College is to increase capacity and coherence in the local post-16 landscape. Once operational, Pudsey Sixth Form College will not only ensure that young people have additional learning opportunities locally but it will also release capacity in partner schools.

This is what encouraged Crawshaw Academy, Co-op Academy Priesthorpe and Leeds West Academy to approach Leeds Sixth Form College and Leeds City College (members of Luminate Education Group) to form a partnership.

Phil Mark, Principal of Pudsey Sixth Form College, said: “It is exciting to think that in a few short months, Pudsey Sixth Form College will begin its role providing the young people of Pudsey and the surrounding area with educational opportunities leading to employment or further study. Drawing on links with Leeds City College and Leeds Sixth Form College, this new sixth form in Pudsey will be able to expertly provide both academic and technical courses for young people.”

Funding for the ambitious project has been sourced through a £12.7 million loan from the Department for Education, signalling the government’s commitment to enhancing educational infrastructure in areas like Pudsey. The development, which is being undertaken by Caddick Construction, represents a significant investment in the future of Pudsey’s young people.

Steve Ford, Regional Managing Director of Caddick Construction Yorkshire & North East, said: “We are pleased to be delivering this much needed sixth form college, and it was a pleasure to actually welcome prospective students and local figureheads to the site to see the progress we are making. This project is not just about the building; it’s about giving local people the educational resources to help them succeed, contributing to a thriving community. We’re grateful for Rachel Reeves’ interest and support, and we look forward to continuing our work to welcome new students to the project later this year.”

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Major milestone for Keighley’s new industrial heartland

Written by James Beaumont on March 13, 2025. Posted in Environment, News

Building work on Keighley College’s brand-new manufacturing and engineering hub has been completed.

The project is part of the wider, £12 million creation of Providence Park, a new industrial site being built on the former Universal Mills plot on the corner of Dalton Lane and Bradford Road.

Providence Park is being part-funded, to the tune of £6.5 million, through the Government’s Keighley Towns Fund – with £3 million of that used to produce Keighley College Engineering Hub.

The hub has been designed to take the training of local apprentices and students to the next level, so it can meet the rapidly evolving skills needs of local employers.

The college will now push ahead with kitting out the building with cutting-edge equipment – including a future technologies lab and engineering workshop – ahead of welcoming the first students in September.

Keighley College Principal Kevin O’Hare said: “This is a major milestone for the college, Providence Park and Keighley – and could be a real game-changer for our district and its economy.

“We are privileged to be based in an industrial heartland that continues to build on its proud history, with many of our employers forging ahead into exciting new areas of manufacturing, engineering and technology, including robotics.

“For those businesses to flourish, though, they need a steady stream of apprentices and students who have industry experience and the up-to-date skills needed to join and strengthen their workforce.

“That’s exactly what the engineering hub has been created to help us deliver – and we’ll be strengthening our already deep bonds with the district’s businesses as we develop our offering there, and work together on apprenticeships along with industry placements for our vocational students.

“We can’t wait to show employers, and our learners, around these cutting-edge new facilities which we are delighted to be opening this year, as the college celebrates its 200th anniversary.”

Bradford Council’s Lead Member for Regeneration, Transport and Planning, Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw said: “Alongside the new state-of-the-art manufacturing and engineering hub, Providence Place is also home to five new buildings housing 23 industrial units. We expect about 100 jobs will be created in total across the whole site.

“Keighley has always had a proud manufacturing and engineering heritage. Its Engineering Hub will enable local people to learn highly-specialised skills and create employment opportunities for the future.”

Keighley Towns Fund Chair, Tim Rogers added: “The creation of the Engineering Hub, in partnership with Keighley College, represents an incredible skills and training opportunity for the town.

“We are proud of what is being achieved at Providence Park, which is a really exciting commercial development for Keighley, and the opportunities it will create for generations to come.”

The hub will be able to train up to 120 students or apprentices, plus staff, at any one time. The building’s lower floor will include a fully kitted-out engineering workshop, complete with lathes and milling machines.

The upper level, meanwhile, will have a future technologies lab fitted out with a laser cutter, printing machines and testing equipment, along with two IT rooms and a teaching space.

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Navigating the post-16 education maze

Written by James Beaumont on February 18, 2025. Posted in Members, News

For so many people, Level 3 qualifications represent a vital step towards their future career – but the array of options available, in both vocational and academic routes, can be baffling. With the government’s review of a proposed overhaul of these courses now complete, has the path become any clearer?

For students and parents alike the sheer breadth of options available in post-16 education can be both exciting and a little overwhelming.

The previous government, in a bid to improve skills and employability while streamlining the system, began a wide-ranging reform of Level 3 qualifications which looked at everything from BTECs and T Levels, to A levels and apprenticeships.

The stated aim, to create “clearly defined academic and technical routes” for post-16 progression, was admirable. But the shake-up also carried real risks, not least through the proposed ending of hundreds of courses, including many BTECs; with the worry being that some learners could be left with nowhere to go.

So the current government’s decision to hold a review of the reform process, to end some of that uncertainty, was welcome. Now we have the outcomes of that review, what is the outlook for colleges like ours and prospective students?

The headline result is that no fewer than 157 of those originally under-threat qualifications will continue, at least for the next year or two. We also have assurances that the defunding of certain qualifications will be done in phases, to minimise disruption and allow for a more managed change.

Of equal importance is the government’s decision to leave the question of what combinations of qualifications education providers can offer to them. Its report, The outcomes of the Review of Qualifications Reform at Level 3 in England, states: “It should be for colleges and sixth forms to work with students to devise the best mix for each individual.”

That makes perfect sense as each area’s college is much better-placed than the Department for Education to know what skills-blend is actually needed by its local economy, and therefore its learners. Many colleges have spent decades building up strong working relationships with their region’s businesses and organisations, and sometimes formalised this process – as we have through Harrogate College Employers’ Network – to increase its effectiveness.

Doing so reaps all kinds of tangible benefits. For our students, for example, it has led to collaboration and work experience with respected organisations like RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Rudding Park and Techbuyer, to name a few. Our partnership with Harrogate District Hospital, meanwhile, has secured T Level placements, supported internships and a variety of apprenticeship opportunities.

And our business links also ensure a steady stream of fact-finding trips for our learners to places like Energy Oasis, Transdev Blazefield, top tier local restaurants and West Yorkshire Police’s training centre at Carr Gate Complex, while local businesses regularly visit our campus to share their expertise.

These kinds of experiences, the result of hard-won grassroots knowledge and years of networking, are mirrored in colleges across the country. So it is pleasing to see the government, in its findings, acknowledge the value of that.

The review report notes that: ‘Students and employers need a simpler range of high-quality qualifications, which provide them with the skills they need’. With funding set to be removed from more than 200 less popular courses, the simplification part of that ambition seems to have been at least partially accomplished.

The challenge has been to ‘trim away the fat’ while ensuring the courses that remain offer a valuable and accessible pathway for students of all kinds of ability levels.

That appears to have been achieved, as learners still have a rich and layered range of routes into their chosen career or next educational stage, outside of the traditional academic route of A levels-then-university.

T Levels, which blend classroom learning with substantial industry placements, are the high-level technical option that the government is particularly keen to promote. It is easy to see their appeal: not only do they give learners a ‘head start’ and experience in their chosen field, but also – with each T Level being worth the equivalent of three A levels – offer an alternative path to university.

Alongside these exist a wide range of BTEC and other applied general technical qualifications which also support progression into work or higher education. These qualifications cover subjects ranging from electrical engineering, bricklaying and childcare to business and marketing, creative media and uniformed protective services. And then there are all the apprenticeship and internship options, which can provide direct routes into so many different kinds of jobs.

So, there’s still plenty to consider for those mulling over their next steps. The important thing for prospective students to remember is that teachers, careers advisers and colleges, across Yorkshire and the UK, are here to help them decide what will work best for them: the door is open.

Danny Wild is Principal of Harrogate College, which is a member of Luminate Education Group.

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