New College Durham has secured £2.95 million in funding from the Department for Education (DfE) to support the development of their new £10 million Technical and Higher Education HUB.
The funding will support the construction of a building that will be home to cutting-edge teaching spaces that will mirror the facilities and equipment found in industry.
These will include, an early years nursery, a sensory room, science laboratories, a cyber security room, a cisco networking room, E-Learning Suite and modern IT classrooms. There will also be an immersive classroom experience which will simulate real-life healthcare scenarios to bring students’ learning to life.
Andy Broadbent, Principal and CEO at New College Durham, in welcoming this support outlines:
“We are delighted that we have this support from the DfE in providing funding to support our new development. At New College Durham, we pride ourselves on delivering an exceptional learning experience for all of our students. A learning experience that prepares students for moving into industry or further study. Critical to this is ensuring they have access to the most cutting-edge technology for their chosen field. We continually invest in our campus, classrooms and equipment to ensure they have access to this technology; and the new Technical and Higher Education HUB is the latest phase of campus development.
As one of the first colleges in the region to deliver the new T-Level qualifications, the addition of these teaching spaces ensures we can fully prepare students for their next steps and that they succeed and thrive on their course. The build will house a range of courses including: business admin, digital, education & childcare, health & science and legal, financial & accounting.”
The build contract was awarded to Esh Construction with works set to commence at the beginning of August. The build will be completed in July 2023 so it is ready for students joining the college in September 2023.
Currently, New College Durham offers all T-Level pathways and will see their first cohort get their final results on 25 August 2022.