Coleg y Cymoedd and Facilitate Join Forces to Transform Learning Through Immersive Technology

Coleg y Cymoedd has partnered with Facilitate, an innovative Virtual Reality (VR) company to bring immersive, virtual reality-based learning to its students — and the results speak for themselves.

This forward-looking collaboration has already driven tangible outcomes: training costs have dropped by 40%, student retention has improved, and learner engagement has hit new highs. By rolling out over 170 VR headsets across 4 campuses and integrating Facilitate’s no-code content platform, the college is leading the way in digitally enabled education.

“We needed a solution that made immersive learning sustainable, scalable, and adaptable,” said Tiberiu Dancovici, Learning Innovation Lead at Coleg y Cymoedd. “Facilitate gave us that flexibility — we’ve been able to build and iterate our own library of training scenarios quickly, without needing a development team. It’s changed how we approach both curriculum design and delivery.”

Students have responded with enthusiasm. In surveys conducted post-training, 83% said they felt more confident applying their skills in real-world environments after VR-based sessions.

Rory Meredith, Director of Digital Strategy and Innovation, added: “We saw Facilitate as a platform that allowed us to create tailored, meaningful, and transformative learning simulations that matched our ethos of reimagining education through creativity, innovation, and collaboration.”

Ben Bauert, CEO of Facilitate, shared his perspective: “Coleg y Cymoedd is setting a new standard for digital transformation in education. Their leadership has shown what’s possible when immersive technology is integrated with purpose and vision.”

Strategic Partnership to transfer UK adult education

Taking their collaboration further, Facilitate and Coleg y Cymoedd are now setting their sights on bringing the impact of their collective expertise to the broader UK adult education sector. Today, the two companies have announced a strategic partnership to enable all UK-based higher education and furthering education institutions to create their own immersive learning content.

Matthew Tucker, Vice Principal at Coleg y Cymoedd, said of this partnership: “At Coleg y Cymoedd, we aim to be setting the standard for digital innovation in the UK education sector. This partnership enables us to be an exemplar for other organisations to learn from and collaborate with, in a way that wouldn’t have been possible before.”

“By partnering with Coleg y Cymoedd, we can accelerate our mission to improve the lives of learners through more engaging and impactful learning experiences. Our colleagues at Coleg y Cymoedd are able to accelerate the adoption of immersive learning through their relationships and influence amongst the UK education sector.” said Ben Bauert.

This partnership is part of the broader ambition set by the Welsh Government’s Digital 2030 strategy, ensuring learners are equipped with the digital skills and experiences needed for the future workforce.

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