New base for specialist courses

Bosses at a Staffordshire college have been handed the keys to its new Higher Education Centre following a year-long construction project.

Tamworth and Lichfield College now has a two-storey HE Centre next to the college's Technology Centre in Tamworth.

The £450,000 building is the town's first dedicated centre of higher education and is intended to house all higher education courses.

It will also accommodate specialist courses linked to the college's status as a Centre of Vocational Excellence in Business and Professional Services.

College principal Ann Neville said the new centre was a valuable addition to the college's facilities.

"We are delighted to have this new building on the Tamworth Campus and we will be putting it at the disposal of local businesses and students who want to improve their skills and qualifications by enrolling in higher-level courses in a local setting," she said.

"It is an excellent building and we are currently equipping it throughout so that it is ready to accept our first intake of students at the earliest possible opportunity."

Run in partnership with Staffordshire University, the centre's higher education courses will be delivered on the first floor and will include a new Foundation Degree in Technology.

Head of technology Gary Hayward said: "This is all part of our expansion of technology courses, working in partnership with local businesses to ensure today's young people are able to access the right kind of training for tomorrow's technology marketplaces.

"Our higher education options are very important in this respect because they allow local students to train to a high level without having to travel to a remote university."

The centre has been part-funded by the Learning & Skills Council as a key element of a three-year project launched when Tamworth and Lichfield College won accreditation as a Centre of Vocational Excellence in Business and Professional Services, in 2005.

The ground floor of the building is designed in a flexible, open-plan format to allow a wide range of uses and courses to take place including individual classes, business conferences and one-off group training days.