11 September 2013

Competitive bursaries available for the brightest engineering talent in the UK

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Today, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) has announced that it is offering students, who are successful in applying for the UK's first engineering degree, a highly competitive package of benefits including a fantastic bursary of £2,500 in the first year. This bursary along with paid industrial placements every year from year one (from £15,000 to 17,000 pro rata) means that all students who start the MEng Food Engineering master's degree at Sheffield Hallam University in September 2014 will be able to keep student debt to a minimum(1).

The FDF bursary, providing £1,500 as the first payment and a subsequent £1,000, will offer a viable solution to cash-strapped, would-be food engineers across the country. The MEng Food Engineering master's degree dedicated entirely to food and drink manufacturing with competitively paid industry placements for all students in food and drink businesses means that students can earn while they learn whilst making essential links to industry and the all-important career opportunities for the future.

The food and drink industry is the largest manufacturing sector in the UK. An estimated 170,300 new recruits are needed by 2020 to help meet the growing industry demand. With MEng Food Engineering starting in 2014, this degree is designed to develop the next generation of the food and drink industry's advanced engineers and leaders to help provide the industry with future sustainable growth.

Angela Coleshill, Director of Employment and Skills at Food and Drink Federation said:

“We are delighted to offer students entering our MEng Food Engineering Degree with a competitive bursary. Student's fees play a huge part in higher education and we hope this bursary will demonstrate the benefits of joining our industry.

As the largest manufacturing sector, our success depends on our ability to remain competitive, without the right skills and talent behind it; our industry won't meet future challenges. This degree and the competitive bursaries available will not only help equip graduates with the right skills that our industry needs but also assist with the financial burden many students face today”.

Notes for editors

1. A full set of terms and conditions for the FDF bursary are in progress and will be available in due course here; www.foodengineer.co.uk
2. Link to the MEng Food Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University course page.
3. The MEng Food Engineering at Sheffield Hallam University has been developed by Graduate Excellence, a partnership between the Food and Drink Federation, the National Skills Academy for Food Drink and Sheffield Hallam University.
4. The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) is the voice of the food and drink manufacturing industry – the UK's largest manufacturing sector.
5. The National Skills Academy for Food Drink is the food and drink manufacturing industry's skills body. The Academy was created in 2007 to facilitate sector specific training provision to drive up sector productivity and competitiveness in line with employer needs. Training organisations that become part of the Academy undergo rigorous quality checks and include both publicly and privately funded learning centres. Each delivers some aspect of skills development for the food and drink manufacturing industry as a whole, and/or specialist skills for one of its various sub-sectors.
6. Sheffield Hallam University is one of the UK's largest universities with more than 36,000 students, 27,000 of which are undergraduates. The University has the fourth highest number of postgraduate taught students in the UK and runs approximately 580 different courses. The University is England's largest provider of courses that involve work placements (such as a year in industry) and 91 per cent of the University's graduates are in work or further study six months after graduation.
7. Graduate Excellence has received co-investment from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) through the Employer Investment Fund.
8. Companies supporting the MEng Food Engineering are: apetito, Arla Foods, Burton's Biscuit Company, Cargill, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Dalehead Foods, F. Duerr Sons, Finsbury Foods, General Mills, KP Snacks, Maple Leaf Foods, Mars, McCain Foods Ltd, Mondelez International, Nestlè UK, New England Seafood, New Primebake, PepsiCo UK, Pork Farms, Premier Foods, Silver Spoon, AB Worlds and Jordans Ryvita, Simpsons and Ready Foods Ltd, Tate and Lyle Sugars, United Biscuits, Warburtons, William Jackson Food Group

More information

For media enquiries, please contact:

Anna Taylor on 0207 420 7118 Email: Anna.Taylor@fdf.org.uk

Avni Raval on 020 7420 7131 Email: Avni.Raval@fdf.org.uk

Helena O'Neill on 020 7420 7140 Email: Helena.O'Neill@fdf.org.uk

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