PHASE two of a major redevelopment for City of Oxford College’s Blackbird Leys campus has been given the go-ahead by Oxford City Council.

Work began on the L-shaped Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) centre in June.

Now the college has received planning permission to add a single-storey building and refurbish existing facilities.

Once complete the whole development will be known as the Oxfordshire Centre for Technology, Innovation and Skills.

State-of-the-art classrooms and workshops will follow, allowing space for 60 new apprenticeships and 60 new full-time places.

Top News

The first students to feel the benefit of the new building will arrive in September 2016.

Ian Francis, college principal, said: “Our vision for Blackbird Leys is to create a centre of excellence for training in STEM subjects, to support the employment needs of local businesses and county growth priorities.

“This extensive redevelopment, made possible by funding from Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, will create a new landmark for Blackbird Leys and help the community to be known for leading innovations in science and engineering.

“Having had planning permission for the second phase, we can complete the scheme in readiness for the next academic year.”

At the same time, City of Oxford College’s existing construction courses will benefit from a new way of working with UK employers.

Businesses will be brought together with students to work on projects reflecting real-life scenarios.

Firms include the Oxford-based Land Securities and Beard Construction, as well as the Crown Estate, Peter Brett Associates, Skanska and Laing O’Rourke.

Beard director John Youle, who has worked in the industry for 35 years, said: “This as an outstanding opportunity to work with the college to promote the construction industry. The students will get a better understanding of how it works working with current Beard employees.”

“We have had some initial discussions with the college but we haven’t done anything like this previously; it’s a closer involvement than before.”

Sweden's Skanska, the world's fifth largest construction firm, has created a project that will see students design a roundabout junction giving access to Harwell taking traffic regulations into account.