Burnley College Receives £6.6million for Massive University Courses Expansion

Britain’s leading college is set for an even brighter future, as Burnley College has been given the green light for an impressive £6.6m expansion to their degree-level facilities.

The Lancashire college is set to expand their University Courses learning facilities with a state-of-the-art three-storey expansion, including a staggering 1,900 square metres of dedicated classrooms and teaching space for around 500 new learners.

Even more remarkably, the huge expansion to Burnley College University Courses (BCUC) is expected to be completed in 2024, thanks to years of future planning by dedicated senior managers at the college.

Nina Parkin, Dean of BCUC, said the expansion will be monumental, not only for the college and students but also for the town of Burnley and surrounding areas.

She said: “To have facilities, right here in the heart of Burnley, which will rival any major city university in the country, makes me so proud.

“We work in conjunction with local industry, identifying skills gaps and learning about developing new technologies, so we can ensure local people achieve qualifications which allow them to go into the world productively and ably stepping straight into a job alongside industry experts.

“Sustainability is one of the key factors at the front of mind at every stage of this development which works in perfect harmony with our learner’s passion for sustainability too.”

The current BCUC building was specifically designed to have foundations able to support additional floors, massively reducing the cost and time for future expansions such as this three-storey boost.

BCUC’s mission to enable people of all ages to build a soaring, successful career on a solid educational foundation.

Like the foundations berneath the physical building, the new facilities will support and expand upon the wide range of courses.

Degree-level courses will not just be available to full-time students, but will be accessible to all with  a wide range of learning options, including upgrading skills for serious professionals looking to boost their careers, or courses for those who simply want to feed their curiosity or expand their skills.

The cutting-edge expansion includes professional science laboratories, expanded Psychology, Counselling and Medical Biology facilities and a dedicated Employability Hub.

Technology is always a priority at Burnley College, and the new floors will have robotics and automation classrooms, a cyber-security suite and immersive tech classrooms.

The immersive technology classrooms, furnished by industry-leading firm Igloo, will have screens and projectors covering every room, so learners can be truly immersed in virtual reality.

This new development will provide capacity for an additional 500 students, and they will be able to take advantage of the Employability Hub, which will be a dedicated service for university students to support them with careers, work, and placement opportunities.

It will also become a conduit from the college to local businesses in order to support events, guest speakers, visits and events.

Principal of Burnley College Karen Buchanan said this ambitious new project is the result of their drive to provide the very best for their learners and the wider community in Burnley.

She said: “This investment in the future of education in Burnley consolidates our position as a leading centre of learning in the North West and the UK as a whole.

“We are hugely proud of our amazing campus and committed to its continued development to offer the ultimate education and training for generations to come – at every level from A Levels, T Levels and GCSEs to Masters Degrees.

“Our learners deserve the very best, and we are dedicated to providing them with an environment which gives them the very best qualifications to aid their journeys to the most successful careers.

“We want to inspire and motivate them to be the very best they can be and our current and new facilities will certainly place Burnley firmly on the education map.”