A BASTION of education in York will be part of a multi-million pound bid to bring new learning opportunities to a North Yorkshire town.

The new education hub, opening in Northallerton later this year, marks a partnership between York College, Hambleton District Council, and the University of Sunderland and will provide a range of courses at the Campus@Northallerton (C@N).

Louise Doswell, deputy chief executive and principal (partnerships and development) at York College, said: “The partnership has facilitated the development of a much needed further education learning environment, that will offer employers and individuals skills development opportunities to enable personal and business growth.

“Without the investment from the LEP and the district council, the York College and University of Sunderland partnership would not have been able to offer the range of learning in the Hambleton area this development will afford us. We are looking forward to opening our campus building in September 2021.”

Currently students living in Hambleton have to travel out of the district to access further and higher education – many don’t return leaving a significant void when it comes to filling jobs.

C@N is based at Treadmills - the former Northallerton Prison site which is being transformed into a retail, business and leisure complex.

Council Leader, Councillor Mark Robson, said: “This new partnership is a first for us – we have not delivered education provision before and to be working with two institutions with great reputations is very exciting.

“It will give local people and businesses access to a wide range of learning opportunities, right on their doorsteps. Currently they need to travel out of Hambleton for this – but with C@N they will be able to study in our county town and businesses will be able to access highly skilled local people. It’s a very exciting new step in the district council’s economic recovery plan and we are delighted to be working with the University of Sunderland and York College.”

Sir David Bell, Vice Chancellor of the University of Sunderland, said: “We are looking forward to working with Hambleton District Council and York College on this innovative project.

“At the University of Sunderland, we believe everyone should have the opportunity to reach their full potential and are always looking at new ways to support this ambition. Such a partnership has the potential to address a challenge faced by many areas – opening up learning opportunities to the whole community, while retaining valuable skills and positively impacting the local economy.”

The new education hub is expected to focus initially on digital skills – with details of the curriculum currently being finalised. It will feature face to face and blended learning as well as offer opportunities for employers to explore training and development solutions including apprenticeships and Higher Education qualifications.

It will be based in the prison’s former tenement building – which was used to house staff and office accommodation. And it will work alongside C4DI (Centre for Digital Innovation) which opens next month offering business space to help tech companies grow and traditional businesses innovate - the 24/7 co-working, meeting and collaboration incubator space will create a community of specialists, giving access to technical skills and expertise.