Work on Northumberland College’s pioneering £52m Ashington Campus has begun after the project received full approval from the Department for Education (DfE).

The ambitious project will provide state-of-the-art academic and technical facilities aligned to industry and regional skills priorities, bringing significant economic and education benefits for Northumberland and the wider region.

Contractor, Bowmer + Kirkland, has been appointed under the DfE’s framework as design and build contractor for the campus, which will be one of a new generation of government-led educational buildings with advanced concepts, design standards, net zero, and sustainability at the heart of its construction and operation.

Led by Education Partnership North East and Northumberland College, a 5.7-acre site will be developed at Advance Northumberland’s Wansbeck Park and will feature three distinct buildings which will include an advanced manufacturing, engineering and construction skills centre; a further and higher education academic and technical ‘heart of the campus’ incorporating a discrete hub for young people with special educational needs and disabilities; and a ‘student life centre’.

Wider facilities will include dedicated catering and dining facilities; a large theatre space with auditorium bleacher seating; employment, careers, financial, welfare, and study support services; specialist labs; industry-standard workshops; and immersive learning environments.

Plans for the campus – due to open in 2026 – came before Northumberland County Council’s Strategic Planning Committee in June 2024 and were unanimously approved.

Ellen Thinnesen, chief executive of Education Partnership North East, said: “We have worked closely with the Department for Education over several years to achieve to this landmark moment.

“This major financial investment will not only enhance local access to technical and academic pathways linked employment and higher-level study, but it will also play a major role in the regeneration of Ashington.

“I am increasingly grateful to the DfE for its full backing of this transformative and visionary project.”

Darren Stoker, regional construction director for Bowmer + Kirkland, added: “We are delighted to have been appointed by the Department for Education to design and deliver Ashington Campus.

“It is exciting to be part of the process that will provide such a fantastic and innovative building for Ashington and the Northeast in general.”

The new campus will introduce a range of apprenticeship and technical pathways, and academic A-Levels, supporting education routes into meaningful employment or higher education.

The development is also being supported by a wide range of organisations and employers from across the county and wider Northeast, including Advance Northumberland, AkzoNobel, and Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with EPNE to launch a School of Health at the campus.

Built using biophilic principles, an innovative concept used in the construction sector, architectural designs are intended to increase occupant connectivity to the natural environment.

And external spaces will be just as important, with the landscape surrounding the buildings incorporating planting strategies – which will act as solar screening – and rain gardens, while pathways will be made of carefully-chosen sustainable materials.

To reduce its carbon footprint, innovative and sustainable designs and materials, along with Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), will mean the campus will largely be built and manufactured offsite before being assembled in Ashington.

The college has also been working on a sustainable transport plan, with the campus being located close to Ashington train station on the re-opened Northumberland Line.