Facilitate Customer Story | Coleg y Cymoedd

How Coleg y Cymoedd Transformed Learning Through Immersive Technology

Coleg y Cymoedd, a leading further education college in South Wales serving over 10,000 learners across four campuses, has successfully implemented virtual reality (VR) technology to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. Through their partnership with Facilitate, they've created immersive learning experiences that are transforming education delivery while improving student retention

170+

HTC headsets deployed in the VR training program

83%

of students feel more confident applying skills in real-world environments after VR sessions

40%

reduction in the cost of training when using VR compared to traditional training methods

Discover Coleg y Cymoedd's VR Journey

Watch now to see students and facilitators share their journey—and hear what’s next in their VR journey.

The Challenge

The College needed to deliver on Welsh Government's Digital 2030 strategic framework but saw:

Traditional teaching methods weren't fully engaging students, particularly in technical subjects
High dropout rates post-COVID impacting student retention
Limited ability to provide hands-on experience for dangerous or expensive training scenarios
Difficulty creating custom learning content that matched specific curriculum needs

The Solution

In partnership with Facilitate, the college implemented a comprehensive VR learning solution centered around:

Facilitate VR content creation platform for developing customized VR learning experiences.
170+ HTC VIVE headsets deployed across four campuses.
Integration into library services and engagement hubs.
Dedicated digital learning team to create and manage content.

The Results

With Facilitate, Coleg y Cymoedd was able to see:

40% reduction in the cost of training when using VR compared to traditional training methods.

83% of students felt more confident applying their skills in real-world environments after VR-based sessions.

Substantial reduction in student dropout rates compared to previous years.

Increased student engagement, particularly in traditionally "dry" subjects.

Enhanced practical skills development in a safe environment.

Facilitate has been easy to use with its intuitive no-code platform. It is highly customizable, enabling us to create truly tailored learning experiences, and cost-effective as it allows us to develop immersive simulations that are fully compatible with our existing and extensive VR ecosystem.

Tiberiu Dancovici

Digital Learning and Innovation Manager, Coleg y Cymoedd

We saw Facilitate as a platform that allowed us to create tailored, meaningful, and transformative learning and training simulations that aligned with our digital strategy and our ethos of reimagining education through creativity, innovation, and collaboration.

Rory Meridith

Director of Digital Strategy and Innovation, Coleg y Cymoedd

The Facilitate platform has given us the opportunity to expand on the idea of co-creating course resources with learners—working directly with them, gathering feedback after each session, and creating video resources (including 360 resources) and micro-simulations with their input in mind.

Course Facilitator, Coleg y Cymoedd

One of the features that excites us most is the opportunity in the future to bring learners together on the Facilitate platform via virtual reality and other devices, enabling them to collaborate and learn regardless of their location or campus.

Rory Meridith

Director of Digital Strategy and Innovation, Coleg y Cymoedd

Key Success Factors

Strategic Leadership Support

Having digital leadership at a high level was crucial for making the right decisions around technology procurement and implementation.

Dedicated Resources

The college invested in staff with the right skill sets to leverage the VR platform effectively, including content creators with multimedia expertise.

Organic Implementation

Rather than copying other institutions, the college developed its VR program based on its specific needs, infrastructure and capabilities.

Integration with Existing Systems

VR experiences were integrated into the broader learning environment through libraries and engagement hubs, making the technology more accessible.

Focus on Pedagogical Outcomes

The team prioritized learning outcomes over technology, ensuring VR enhanced rather than replaced existing teaching methods.

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