Oldham College has announced a further significant improvement to its facilities after signing a lease on the former Greater Manchester UTC building.
The building, which is on the College’s Middleton Road Campus, is currently being used by Oasis Academy Leesbrook, until its new building opens in Lees, planned for 2020. The College will be ready to move in once Oasis leave, restoring the building to its original purpose, to enhance technical education and training in Oldham.
The long term lease on the building will allow the College to realise its ambitions for the overall campus and have a space dedicated to post 16 science, technology and digital skills.
The GM UTC was set up in 2014 but closed in 2017. The Department of Education ran a competition for the future use of the building, and Oldham College advanced a proposal which aimed to keep the original vision with a focus on post 16 science, technology and digital skills.
Oldham College has enjoyed a remarkable turnaround recently. In the summer of 2018 it achieved its best ever results, with consistent improvement across all areas of provision. In January, Ofsted published an extremely good report on the quality of its provision, praising the excellent teaching, “exemplary” behaviour of students, the specialist expertise of staff, employer involvement, the standard of facilities and the College’s strong leadership and management. The College is consistent across 16-19 programmes of study, adult programmes, apprenticeships and high needs provision and also runs the very successful University Campus Oldham which has over 600 local people studying for degrees validated by world class universities.
In February it was officially confirmed that the College’s overall improvement, which includes financial health along with quality, meant that its future as a standalone college was secure. In the national league tables for further education, published last week, it has scored very highly compared to other colleges, especially those with similar intakes. Much of the provision is in the top 20% in the country and some is in the top 10%. It has been nominated as FE College of the Year in the Educate North Awards, due to be announced at the end of April.
The College Chair of Governors, Jonathan Edwards, said: “Technical education is undergoing a renaissance in this country because it will solve the national skills problem and help places like Oldham develop a new economic future. Led by Oldham College, our town is going to have provision and facilities which equals the best around. We have set a clear vision for this in our Strategic Plan and this is another milestone toward achieving this goal. We are extremely pleased to have reached this point, which is the result of a lot of hard work by our leadership team and much lobbying by our supporters.”
Chief Executive and Principal, Alun Francis, said: “We have had to be very patient throughout this process, and would like to thank Jim McMahon, our local MP, who tirelessly lobbied at the highest level to help secure the building for the College and the leaders of the Labour and Liberal Democrats on Oldham Council, who both gave us their public support. We can now begin planning the detailed curriculum that will be delivered from the building from 2020-21 – which will focus on health sciences and the digitalisation of work. This is an exciting time for everyone working at the College and a great time to come and study with us. We know the quality of our provision is very good, that we are the only local specialist provider of useful, work related learning with real employer involvement, and our staff genuinely care for every learner here. To cap it all, we now have a Campus worth over £50m – right in the middle of town, for Oldham people to enjoy and build their careers.”
Rt Hon Jim McMahon MP for Oldham West and Royton, said: “I am really pleased the College now has the lease on the former UTC building. We want the town to be associated with success and ambition, and I am confident that the College will make sure that people in Oldham get the benefit of the £9m which was originally invested in the facility. The College has made such good progress recently, so this is the perfect time for them to make this acquisition and make it a real asset for Oldham.”
