A new qualification is opening the door to semiconductor careers for young people in Wales
Students at Bassaleg School in Newport have become some of the first in the UK to begin a new Level 2 qualification in semiconductors, marking a national first in STEM education.
The WJEC Level 2 Award in Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (Semiconductors) is a GCSE-equivalent qualification designed to give young people an introduction to the skills, technologies and career opportunities within the semiconductor industry.
For a sector that is growing rapidly in South Wales, bringing those opportunities into the classroom is an important step towards building the workforce of the future.
Moving from classroom to cleanroom
The new qualification combines classroom learning with practical skills development, covering areas including:
• Semiconductor manufacturing
• Circuitry and electronics
• Cleanroom working
• Quality control
• Health and safety
• Careers in advanced manufacturing and semiconductors
For students, it offers something beyond the traditional classroom experience: an opportunity to understand how the things they are learning connect to real-world technology and potential careers.
Year 10 student Harry Thomas said the course is already giving him a better understanding of the industry and “a taste of what jobs could be available” in the future.
A partnership building future talent
Bassaleg School is one of the first schools in Wales to offer the qualification through a programme funded by CSconnected, made possible through investment from Cardiff Capital Region. The course is delivered by training provider Iungo in partnership with the school.
Industry is also playing a role, with KLA supporting the programme and helping students gain practical insight into the skills needed across the semiconductor sector.
Cath Batten, Deputy Headteacher at Bassaleg School, said:
“It's a fantastic opportunity for them to gain real, industry-relevant skills alongside their studies, and to see first-hand the career possibilities that exist right here in Wales' growing semiconductor sector.”
For CSconnected, collaboration between education, industry and government is central to creating a sustainable talent pipeline.
Building the next generation of the cluster
The timing is significant. The South Wales compound semiconductor cluster now supports 3,140 jobs and £436 million in GVA across Wales, with employment linked to the cluster increasing by 14% year-on-year.
CSconnected has an ambition to help double the cluster's workforce to 6,000 jobs by 2030.
Achieving that growth will require talent at every stage, from young people discovering STEM for the first time, through to apprenticeships, university study, research and careers with the world-leading companies based across South Wales.
As Howard Rupprecht, Managing Director at CSconnected, puts it:
“This is a landmark moment, not just for Wales, but for the whole of the UK.”
The first students beginning this qualification are therefore doing more than making history in STEM education. They are taking the first steps into an industry that will help shape the technologies, economy and opportunities of the future.
And for Wales' semiconductor sector, that could be the beginning of something much bigger.
Read the BBC Wales feature on the first semiconductor qualification in the UK.
About CSconnected
CSconnected is the not-for-profit organisation driving the world’s first compound semiconductor cluster in South Wales. It brings together industry, academia, government and community to build a fully integrated ecosystem spanning world-class research, prototyping and global-scale manufacturing.
The cluster underpins the technologies set to define the next decade, including AI, clean energy, advanced communications and defence. Built on more than a decade of sustained investment, it represents a unique concentration of capability driving a new Welsh industrial revolution.
CSconnected works to accelerate growth, attract inward investment, and turn world-class expertise into long-term industrial and economic value for Wales and the UK—helping power the UK’s industrial future.
Website: csconnected.com
LinkedIn: CSconnected
For more information contact:
Zoe Fawcett/Adam Gettinby
csconnected@purplefish.agency
0117 9251358
