Work is launched on mammoth £20m rebuild of Harrogate College with state-of-the-art future promised

As part of a plan to transform its campus into a centre of sustainable excellence ready to tackle local skills shortages, Harrogate College is replacing its main building entirely and constructing a renewable energy skills hub.

Preliminary work on this mammoth project is already ongoing while the full construction phase, in what is currently the campus’s car park, will start in March with a completion date of 2025.

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.

Energy efficient systems will be incorporated into the new buildings,

Principal Danny Wild hailed the redevelopment as an exciting new chapter for Harrogate College, its students and North Yorkshire.

“We are really excited to see work on our new campus getting under way,” said Mr Wild.

“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, for example."

Most of the funding for the new buildings – £16m – has come from the Department for Education’s Further Education Capital Transformation Fund.

Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones said the investment was a big step forward for the district.

“As well as enhancing the facilities available to Harrogate College students, this £20 million new campus will bring many broader benefits to the wider area,” he said.

“Many of the courses at the new campus will be geared toward sectors where there are currently local skills shortages.”

Harrogate College will run as normal throughout the building phase.

Students will continue to have full access to all of the existing facilities and the building site will be entirely separate.

A key focus of the upgraded campus will be on sustainable technology skills.

The college has pledged to become net zero by 2035.