Harrogate College begins construction on ‘state-of-the-art’ £20m rebuild project

Harrogate College, part of Luminate Education Group, is replacing its main building and constructing a renewable energy skills hub to take its training and education provision to the next level.

The upgrade will result in ‘state-of-the-art’ facilities including a mock hospital ward, digital technology suite, electric vehicle workshop and a construction centre focused on modern building methods. Preliminary work began in February while the full construction phase, in what is currently the campus’s car park, will start in March.

Principal Danny Wild, confirming the news during Colleges Week, commented: “We are really excited to see work on our new campus getting underway. The resulting, purpose-built facilities will allow us to keep producing the highly skilled individuals that our region’s businesses need, now and for decades to come.

“It will also allow us, while building on our close collaboration with local employers, to consolidate our position as the leading local provider of T Levels - the new, work-focused alternative to A levels that are becoming increasingly popular.

“We look forward to showing off the results, which will usher in an exciting new chapter for Harrogate College, its students and the people of North Yorkshire, in the summer of 2025.”

The college will run as normal throughout the building phase and students will continue to have full access to all of the existing facilities, as comprehensive safety measures will be in place to keep the building site entirely separate.

A key focus of the upgraded campus will be on teaching sustainable technology skills, something the college, which has pledged to become net zero by 2035 and will incorporate energy efficient systems into the new buildings, has made a key priority.

Its green sector work to date has involved teaming up with local businesses like Energy Oasis, which helps organisations cut their energy bills, to hold awareness-raising events, specialist classes and more.

Energy Oasis recently trained some of the college’s tutors in how to fit and wire up PV solar panels, so they can in turn teach the students. Founder Mike Kaye hailed the campus rebuild as a demonstration of the college’s ‘deep-seated commitment to sustainability’.

He added: “We are really proud that the college is looking to become a centre of renewable and sustainable excellence. This is one of the fastest growing areas in the economy and the more people, whether they are just starting off or looking for a career change, who can be trained up in these skills and deployed into the workforce, the better.”