Stoke on Trent College wins £1m grant for creative industries

 

Stoke on Trent College has secured a £1m capital grant from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA). The funding will go towards new facilities for the creative and cultural industries at the college’s Cauldon campus.

A further £200,000 has also been provided by Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership for virtual reality learning suites that can transport learners to a host of workplaces and learning environments through the power of augmented reality.

Creative industries and performing arts students from the Burslem campus will now move to a new facility at the Cauldon campus. The site will provide a range of courses including graphic design, games design and development, film, TV, media, radio, theatrical make-up, performing arts, ceramics, product design and music.

Denise Brown, Principal and CEO at Stoke on Trent College, said: “This is a significant government investment into education and creative industries within the region and we are very proud to have secured this funding as a result of a strong business plan, putting employment opportunities in key growth areas at the heart of our curriculum.

We will bring all our creative students onto one single learning community in the university quarter, closer to employers in the cultural quarter and creative industries.”

Denise added: “We have undertaken an extensive review of the college estate, student numbers and our curriculum, working closely with Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP to create a skilled workforce to fill predicted vacancies that are key to the area’s economy.”

Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise partnership chairman David Frost CBE said: “We are delighted to support Stoke on Trent College in this exciting new initiative to equip their students for the rapidly changing workplaces of the 21^st century.

“The digital and creative industries are playing an increasingly important role in the economy and we want to see our local young people take full advantage of the new, highly skilled job opportunities that are opening up. This will help position our region at the cutting edge in developing these new technologies.”