Demolition work will shortly get underway for the new £12.4m Tresham College campus in Church Street, Wellingborough.
When complete, the new campus will provide space for up to 600 students in subjects such as motor vehicle technology, manufacturing and electrical engineering, and will feature a dedicated maths centre to meet the skills gap identified in the north of Northamptonshire.
The new campus has been designed by Bond Bryan to accommodate the specialist vocational provision across the 3,600m2 site.
Building work should begin this autumn. It is expected that the campus will open to students for the 2017/18 academic year.
It is hoped that there will be minimum disruption to students and plans are in place to provide training at another Tresham campus or at an off-site location within Wellingborough while building work takes place.
Speaking to the Northamptonshire Telegraph, Tresham principal Stuart Wesselby said: “We are delighted to be taking the first steps forward for Tresham’s new campus in Wellingborough which will be the final piece in the jigsaw to provide modern, fully equipped learning environments for school leavers, employees and adults in and around north Northamptonshire.
“Tresham is committed to creating learning opportunities for everyone and with the funding from the Local Growth Fund and Wellingborough Borough Council and support from Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership, Northamptonshire County Council we are able to move forward with this exciting new project for the town.”
Tim Bagshaw, head of business and innovation at Northamptonshire Enterprise Partnership, said: “This development will not only provide a major opportunity for young people and adults in Wellingborough but will also facilitate a learning provision leading to the closing of Northamptonshire’s skills gap both in the short-term and in the future.