Wolverhampton college will move to city centre by 2021

The move follows a string of false starts since the idea was first mooted more than four years ago, but it is now part of a three-year plan to be delivered by new principal Mal Cowgill.

The new city centre college will take in the buildings around its Metro One campus beside the St George’s Metro stop – making it far more accessible than the current main site on Paget Road.

It will also take in the former Faces nightclub building – empty since it closed in 2016 and bought by the city council the following year. The current plan will see the college established in the City Learning Quarter by September 2021.

Dismissed

Previous proposals involved a new campus at the former Royal Hospital and on the city centre Sainsbury’s site on St George’s Road. But both were dismissed as being too expensive.

The key to the new plan has been a vital £12 million finance deal secured by the college earlier this year, with the city council and the Treasury’s Transaction Unit – a special department set up to help further education colleges with financial problems.

Mr Cowgill, an expert in working with struggling colleges, was brought in ‘to get the deal over the line’, sorting out the City of Wolverhampton College’s long-term debts.

He has now been given a three-year contract to deliver major transformation at the college. Mr Cowgill said he ‘jumped at the chance’ at remaining in the city.

“There is a real buzz around the city, and it’s not just the football, " he said.

"I am committed to delivering, and the corporation of the college want stability, so they have extended my contract to give me the opportunity.

"It’s vital that we increase the skills of young people, getting them ‘work ready'. At the same time we need to support the skills needs of the SMEs in Wolverhampton and the wider Black Country, which in turn will support inward investment in the city – a good skills base attracts high value employers.”

Mr Cowgill added: "The move to the city centre will make access for students to our facilities much easier. At the same time we aim to develop our motor vehicle, engineering and construction courses at the Wellington Road campus in Bilston in parallel.”