University offers opportunity to unemployed oil workers

The offer is open to people who live in Aberdeen City or Shire who have been made redundant or left unemployed as a result of the downturn in the sector

The University of Aberdeen is offering a discount on postgraduate education to unemployed oil and gas workers.

The offer of a 20 percent discount for full-time or part-time study is open to people who live in Aberdeen City or Shire who have been made redundant or left unemployed as a result of the downturn in the sector.

It will apply to energy-related courses starting in September 2016 - or for some courses January 2017 - and will span several disciplines including engineering, business, law, geosciences, natural and computing sciences, and biological sciences.

The announcement comes ahead of the University’s Postgraduate Open Day which is being held on Saturday (March 5th).

The event is being held at King’s College Conference Centre in Old Aberdeen, and will showcase all of the postgraduate opportunities that the University has to offer, including its energy portfolio and over 80 other taught programmes.

People who are interested in taking advantage of the discount offer and other aspects of postgraduate education are invited to come along on the day and find out more.

University of Aberdeen Principal, Professor Sir Ian Diamond, said: “The downturn in the oil and gas industry is having a significant impact on many skilled workers in the north-east who are currently unemployed and facing an uncertain future.

As a University at the heart of the community we want to demonstrate our commitment to helping the sector and its workforce " University of Aberdeen Principal, Professor Sir Ian Diamond

“As a University at the heart of the community we want to demonstrate our commitment to helping the sector and its workforce by offering a 20 percent discount across our range of postgraduate energy programmes.

“These cover a range of disciplines, and our hope is that those who take advantage of this offer will significantly improve their employment prospects by retraining or enhancing their existing skills.

“I would invite anyone who is interested to come along to our Postgraduate Open Day this Saturday, where they can speak to our advisers and find out more about this offer. Alternatively further information, including eligibility requirements, is available on our website.”

Welcoming the offer, Scottish Government Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said:

“This announcement from the University of Aberdeen will help provide an opportunity to access a range of postgraduate energy programmes across a series of disciplines including engineering, business, law, geosciences, natural and computing sciences, and biological sciences. Importantly, it will allow unemployed workers to remain highly skilled within the sector.

“The Scottish Government announced a £12 million Transition Training Fund which will focus on people who have lost, or face losing, their jobs in the oil and gas sector. The Fund will provide assistance by offering grants to individuals for retraining and up-skilling. It will also aim to help people with the costs of maintaining any licences needed to work in the sector, and develop options to enable individuals to bring their skills and expertise into teaching.”