Work starts on new £4m City College Norwich building

The two-storey learning centre is being built at the college's Ipswich Road campus where it will help train more young people for careers in the construction industry.

The vast majority of the funding for the project - £4m - has come from the Department for Education's post-16 capacity fund - a pot of cash designed to enhance skills in school leavers. City College is investing around £400,000 of its own funds into the project.    

The 1,200 square metre building will meet growing demand for trade skills (Image: NNUH)

To meet the demand for trade skills training, the building has been designed for "maximum flexibility" and much of the 1,200 square metre floor space will be dedicated to electrician training.

It is located next to the college's existing bricklaying and carpentry workshops and work is expected to continue until December. 

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Liv Bradley, head of construction at City College Norwich, said: "Seeing work start on the new skills centre is a really exciting milestone for construction training at City College Norwich.

"We have a comprehensive offer, from entry-level multi-skills to trade Diplomas, T Levels, apprenticeships and higher apprenticeships, with our students benefitting from great support from employers in the construction sector in Norfolk.

Liv Bradley, head of construction at City College Norwich (Image: CCN)

"Applications for our construction courses starting in September are up again and the new construction skills centre is going to be very busy once it is ready for teaching, playing a particularly important role for students and apprentices on our electrical courses."

David Henry, director at MJS Projects, added: "As a local company, we're passionate about developing students' understanding of the many varied careers the construction industry can offer.

"We will take this fantastic opportunity to link our site activities, the role of the designers, and the wider project team to the students’ learning, enhancing their studies with real-life practical experience.”