New £12m training centre set to create STEM superstars

FUTURE superstars in STEM will be created at Middlesbrough College Group’s brand new £12m training centre, currently taking shape at the College’s Middlehaven campus.

Opening in September 2024, this state-of-the-art teaching facility will be operated by leading workforce training provider TTE Technical, part of the Middlesbrough College Group.

The new facility will train over 300 full-time students, 300 apprentices and 500 adults each year, alongside a thriving international cohort of students.

The centre will provide more than 3,000 sq m of space over two storeys and its fantastic facilities will include:

• Seven large multifunction/multidiscipline workshops to provide for Instrumentation, Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Mechanical, Hydraulics, Pneumatics, Process Engineering and Net Zero Low Carbon Technology Workspaces

• Seven breakout classrooms and study spaces

• A large Conference Room and staff workspaces

• Student social and welfare areas

Subject specialisms at the site will include Mechanical Engineering, Electrical, Instrumentation, Process, Wind Turbine, and Laboratory courses.

The centre will also help TTE continue to provide high quality apprenticeship programmes to a wide range of employers across the North East.

Short courses it will host will include Electrical Safety, Hydraulic Systems, Virtual Process Control Room Operations, Safety Passport, Leadership and Management and many more.

Middlesbrough College Group CEO and principal Zoe Lewis explained: “We are so excited about this brand new centre, which will be one of the most advanced STEM teaching and training facilities anywhere in the country.

“This new centre will complement the already extensive STEM offer at our campus in Middlehaven and cement the college as one of the UK’s largest Engineering training providers in the country with state-of-the-art, ‘real scale’ industrial equipment and industrial specialist staff, which will support the region’s existing and emerging businesses.

“We’re particularly pleased that the new site will also allow us to expand into new sectors such as clean, green and renewable energy, retrofit, zero carbon and offshore high voltage, securing technical skills that are in demand and valued by local employers and giving young people greater access to the careers which will shape all our futures.”

Middlesbrough College is a designated STEM Specialist College which works closely alongside employers to ensure the courses it provides are linked to what is needed in industry.

Its wide range of courses equip students with the skills and training they need to really get on in their chosen STEM career.

The College’s team of experienced tutors are experts in their respective fields whose dedication to fostering a stimulating learning environment ensures that students get the highest quality of instruction.

As well as the new TTE training centre, the College also boasts a £20 million STEM Training Centre which contains cutting-edge equipment and immersive learning spaces, allowing students to apply their theoretical knowledge to practical applications.

Independent education experts have praised this approach and the work which Middlesbrough College does to ensure students are enthused, engaged and inspired in their work and ready to take their skills into employment.

Inspectors from Ofsted rated the College as ‘Outstanding’ – the highest grade possible – in six different areas including personal development, apprenticeships and behaviour and attitudes.

Rating the College as ‘Strong’ in terms of meeting skills needs, inspectors praised Middlesbrough College’s “vibrant learning environments that are very well resourced”, adding that such provision made a big difference to student outcomes: “Learners and apprentices are exposed to the world of work and are well prepared to progress into employment.”

To take your first step towards becoming a STEM superstar, head to https://www.mbro.ac.uk/