WIRRAL Met is among 33 colleges across the country set to receive a share of Government funding for 'major' upgrades.
It is to receive £1,187,503.66 from a Department for Education pot totalling £56m.
From repairing leaky roofs and fixing broken windows to updating worn-out heating systems, all 33 colleges will benefit. Each one will receive individual allocations in the summer, ranging from £6,000 for smaller institutions to £7m for large college groups for the next academic year.
Colleges will be given the flexibility to decide how the funding is spent, so it can be directed where it is needed most.
It is said by the Government that the funding "will restore pride in England’s colleges and break down barriers to opportunity for students, with fewer disruptions to lessons, more comfortable learning environments, and better spaces for students to focus and succeed."
Modernised colleges is a key part key of delivering on the Prime Minister’s target for two-thirds of young people to be taking a gold standard apprenticeship, higher training or heading to university by the age of 25.
The fund has been boosted by £5m since last year, when it was introduced in response to colleges calling for a reliable annual allocation to plan and maintain their estates. It is part of a £1.7b investment from the government’s Industrial Strategy for colleges to modernise buildings by 2030.
Skills Minister Jacqui Smith said: "The young people in these colleges are the engineers, bricklayers and designers of the future and they and the dedicated staff teaching them deserve the best possible environment to learn and succeed.
"This £56m investment will repair and modernise facilities across all 33 colleges in the North West, giving young people the spaces they need to build the skills they need for good careers, helping to drive economic growth."
Wirral Met has been contacted for comment on its share of the fund.
It follows the announcement of £570 million to increase capacity in colleges to train the next generation of skilled workers.
More widely, the government’s ambitious Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper set out plans to unlock opportunity for young people and drive growth for the country by improving the quality of further education. This includes the introduction of structured professional development for further education teachers and an expectation that colleges deliver at least 100 hours of face-to-face English and maths teaching for those who haven’t passed those GCSEs.
It also announced the creation of V levels as a brand new vocational pathway to provide clearer, stronger options for young people, allowing them to mix and match academic and vocational subjects and setting them up for the jobs of tomorrow.
Funding will be distributed to colleges in due course.
Share