Multi-million-pound programme of building projects to move forward at Leicester College this summer

Projects will enhance facilities available for further education students across three city centre campuses

Leicester College is undertaking several new building projects to refurbish and create new facilities across its three campuses in Leicester, set for completion this summer and later in 2023.

The combined multi-million-pound projects have been funded by Leicester College and the Department for Education, The Savoy Educational Trust, and the Office for Students (OfS). The projects include:

• A new Higher Education Hub is being created at Abbey Park Campus with funding from the OfS. This will be for degree level students to use as a dual social/study space and create a greater sense of a higher education undergraduate culture. Two classrooms will be merged, refurbished, and fitted with conferencing and meeting technologies
• The art workspace for Supported Learning at Abbey Park Campus will be refurbished and updated
• The College has secured £1.6 million from the Department for Education to refurbish the Construction Block at the Freemen’s Park Campus. The project includes the relocation and redevelopment of the current electrical workshops into a two-storey workshop that will create an identifiable electrical skill teaching centre within the construction trades centre. The planned completion date is September 2024
• The Careers Hub at the Abbey Park Campus has recently been revamped, making it an even more welcoming space for adult learners and students aged over 19, improving this valuable resource for those seeking advice on future career paths
• The Engineering and Technology Centre at the Abbey Park Campus is undergoing a complete internal redesign to make way for new and updated facilities. Costing more than £3 million, the Department for Education has provided more than £1 million for the project with its T level Capital Grant. Work is due to be completed by autumn 2023
• Funded by the Office for Students, a new 400+sq metre aeronautical/advanced engineering training facility will be built at the Abbey Park Campus to enable the delivery of Level 4 and 5 higher education technical and apprenticeship programmes
• Supported by funding from the Savoy Educational Trust, two training kitchens used by students across 14 hospitality and catering programmes will be redesigned and refurbished at the College’s Freemen’s Park Campus
• A teaching area at the Abbey Park Campus is being re-purposed to create two training hospital wards that will enhance the learning experience for students on its Health and Science T level course
• A range of HE curriculum equipment is being upgraded across multiple campuses including new computers, smart displays, drone technology and VR, also funded by OfS
• At least four rooms will be upgraded to further enhance delivery and the student experience for our L4+ cohorts including a new healthcare consultation space, a computer suite and lecture rooms

Principal and CEO of Leicester College, Verity Hancock said:

“The summer holidays provide an ideal opportunity to drive forwards with our ambitious infrastructure programme with some works completing during this time and some new work starting that will be completed in 2023/24. This will rebuild, refurbish and create new, state of the art facilities for our existing and new student cohorts at the College.”

Talking about the T level Capital Buildings and Facilities Improvement Grants nationally, Minister for Skills, Apprenticeship and Higher Education Robert Halfon said: “This boost of over £100 million is our latest investment in T levels. These are

robust, high-quality technical qualifications providing a unique ladder of opportunity for students to gain both classroom knowledge and on-the-job experience.

“From robotics suites that support digital T levels to simulated health wards where students can get a real sense of what it means to work in Healthcare Science, T levels will support young people into rewarding careers and back businesses with the skills of the future.”