Fareham College has been successful in its bid for a T Level Capital Grant from the Department for Education to further enhance its facilities to deliver its next phase of T Level courses from September 2022.
Fareham College launched its first two T Level courses last September in Digital Production, Design and Development and Education and Childcare. From this September, the College is also offering T Levels in Design, Surveying and Planning; Digital Business Services; Digital Support Services; Health; Healthcare Science; Science and On-site Construction.
Having successfully bid for and been awarded grants previously to further develop facilities to support the delivery of these T Levels, Fareham College is now embarking on the creation of a new Centre of Excellence in Environmental Technologies to facilitate the delivery of the Building Services Engineering T Level, which the College will be offering from September 2022.
This new centre is estimated to cost in the region of £1.2million, with 50% of the funds being award by the Department for Education. The planned development will create theory and ‘real world’ practical spaces at the College’s Bishopsfield Road Campus. Whilst efficient in their sizing and design, these spaces will provide inspiring, flexible environments that promote innovative curriculum delivery through a good balance of theory, practical and collaboration work. The College’s existing plumbing and painting and decorating workshops will be remodelled into a Facilities Management workshop and the existing electrical installation workshop will be transformed into two classrooms for delivering the Building Services Engineering T Level and an IT space for the College to train T Level learners in Building Information Modelling.
Alongside this, part of the College architecture will be repurposed and remodelled into a Centre of Excellence in Environmental Technologies with state-of-the-art plumbing and electrical installation bays, a two storey ‘mock house’ for practical learning, practical space with a ‘mock roof’ with various finishes for learning how to install photovoltaics, an electric car charging area and seminar spaces.
Fareham College Principal and CEO, Andrew Kaye said, “We are absolutely delighted to have received this grant from the Department for Education, which builds upon the previous significant investment the College has made in enhancing its facilities to deliver the new T Level qualification. The College already works extensively with a large number of employers and using these links with the relevant different industries, is best placed to provide students with the knowledge, skills and practical work experience they require to achieve their qualification and embark on the next steps towards their chosen career. This new Centre supports our commitment to sustainability and the government ambition to build back better, build back greener.”
The new Centre of Excellence will cater for the core T Level courses along with the optional courses including electrical and electronic equipment engineering, electrotechnical engineering, protection systems engineering, plumbing and heating engineering and heating engineering and ventilation.
The proposed works will be completed by September 2022. T Levels are a new qualification that focuses on high-level technical study and work-ready skills. They have been developed to offer a credible alternative to A Levels and will provide young people with a clear route to skilled employment, as well as progression to higher or degree Apprenticeships, or degree-level study at university. T Levels combine the career focus and practical elements of current technical and professional qualifications like BTECs and NVQs, with the theory and study of traditional A Levels.
A core component of the T Level qualification is an industry-based placement, where students will apply the theory they learn in the classroom to the workplace and develop the essential work-ready skills that employers are looking for.
