New multi-million pound Fareham College campus for civil engineering set to open this year

Fareham College has obtained planning permission and appointed a building contractor for its new Civil Engineering Training Centre (CETC) in partnership with the Solent Civil Engineering Employers Group.

Local firm Amiri Construction has been appointed to construct the new multi-million pound campus, which has received funding from Solent LEP and will be located close to the College's existing CEMAST (Centre of Excellence for Engineering, Manufacturing and Advanced Skills Training) campus in Lee-on-the-Solent.

Mark Wells, Chairman of the Solent Civil Engineering Employers' Group, said: '˜With over £15bn worth of construction-based development in Hampshire over the next five years, the new training centre is good news for apprentices and students, good news for employers and good news for our local economy.'

CETC is currently a two-acre mock construction site that offers a unique and pioneering Groundwork and Civil Engineering Apprenticeship.

It was set up in response to a county-wide skills shortage impacting civil engineering growth and expansion in the south and the project aims to deliver more than 1,600 groundwork and civil engineering apprenticeships over a five-year period.

Nigel Duncan, Fareham College Principal, said: '˜Our new CETC campus, which is due to open in autumn 2019, will be a major asset for the College and the region.

'˜We will be training the next generation of skilled groundworkers and helping to fill an important gap, something that is much in demand by industry.

'˜We're delighted to have appointed Amiri Construction and to move this project to the next stage.'

For those interested in a career in Civil Engineering, applications are now open for Fareham College's Civil Engineering and Groundworks Apprenticeship (CEGA) February 2019 cohort.

For more information or to apply online, visit: http://cetc.ac.uk/