Further education (FE) college groups across England will receive a share of £302m to fix, maintain, and improve their buildings under Government’s Plan for Change.

The funding, which was announced by the Chancellor in the Budget in October, is the first condition allocation for FE colleges in two years.

And colleges will have the discretion and flexibility to decide how the funding should be spent.

Skills Minister, Jacqui Smith, said: “Further education colleges are at the heart of our mission to grow the economy and train the next generation of skilled workers under our Plan for Change.

“But the college estate we inherited is simply not fit for purpose.

“Today’s funding addresses these issues, allowing colleges to focus on what they do best: breaking down barriers to opportunity and inspiring the workforce of the future.”

Colleges in Greater Manchester and Leeds will also benefit from a £20m boost to capacity funding for 16-19 year olds to address a shortage of places.

Among those to benefit will be Calderdale College in West Yorkshire, which will use the capital funding to expand its much-needed capacity in construction and professional trades workshops.

The funding will also support the creation of an additional classroom within Mill Studios, the college’s state-of-the-art digital and creative centre.

Andrew Harrison, vice principal for corporate services at the college, said: “We welcome this investment from the Government’s Autumn Budget, which will enable us to further enhance the experience for our students.

“This follows the success of our recent £7.5 m transformation project, completed in August 2024, which focused on refurbishing our ageing estate.

“As well as modernising our facilities, the project significantly improved energy efficiency, cutting costs by 40% and making a major step forward in our carbon reduction edits.”

This week’s moneypot follows the Chancellor’s announcement of £100m of new investment to further build capacity in the construction sector, establishing 10 new Technical Excellence Colleges, part of a wider £625m investment that will help to train up to 60,000 more engineers, electricians, and builders by 2029.