New Wolverhampton college campus could create 150 jobs

City of Wolverhampton College principal Mark Robertson said he expected the new site in the city centre, which will replace the existing base in Paget Road, to be up and running within three-to-four years.

Mr Robertson said the college, which at the moment serves around 3,000 full-time and 7,000 part-time students, was planning to increase its capacity by around a third.

See also: GCSE success for Black Country students.

He said a location had yet to be decided, and the full cost of the project had yet to be assessed.

"We are looking at a number of sites in the city, it will be very centrally located," he said.

"It's at a very early stage and figures haven't been decided yet, it will be several million pounds."

He said the existing site, which was built in the 1960s, was now out of date, and placed limitations on what the college could do.

"It's quite expensive to run, and it's not brilliantly located for transport links.

"We want the new site for people to be able to access it."

Would new facilities attract you to study at the college? Leave your comments below.

Mr Robertson, who arrived in May last year, said the plans had the backing of both the Black CountryLocal Enterprise Partnership and Wolverhampton City Council.

"It will give a brilliant boost to the city centre," he said.

"Instead of pulling people way from the city, it will bring people into the centre, supporting the shops and restaurants there.

"It will create jobs in the construction industry during the building of the campus.

"In the longer term I would say it will create between 100 and 150 jobs."

Mr Robertson said the college would retain its campus in Wellington Road, Bilston.

See also: Exam success for Black Country students.

The news follows a dramatic turnaround in the college's fortunes, having been praised for its dramatic progress in a recent assessment by the Further Education Commissioner.

In March 2012 the college was rated as 'inadequate' during an inspection.

However, an assessment carried out in May this year on behalf of FE Commissioner David Collins said the college had shown dramatic improvement.

Mr Collins's report said: "In a very short time, the new principal has built a very strong, high-performing executive team.

"Overall there was a feeling that the college was in a very different place as compared to where it was two years ago."