A North-east Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) is proud to be a partner and beneficiary of the region’s newly announced Construction Technical Excellence Colleges (CTECs).

Sunderland College has been announced as one of 10 CTECs established by the Department for Education and backed by a £100m* investment from government. CTECs are central to the government’s Plan for Change, which aims to deliver 1.5 million new homes and critical infrastructure such as schools and hospitals.

Around 40,000 new learners will be trained by 2029 through the CTECs. The colleges will operate on a ‘hub and spoke’ model, working with local employers and training providers.

The North East CTEC will be based at the Housing Innovation and Construction Skills Academy (HICSA) in Sunderland, a collaborative gateway and hub which is managed by Sunderland College. Training for wet trades, such as bricklaying and plastering, will be delivered at the college’s City Campus at Park Lane in Sunderland.

HICSA is the first dedicated construction college of its kind in the region and Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust – which has 25 primary schools and five secondaries including four sixth form provisions across Sunderland, East Durham and South Tyneside – is one of its key partners. At the end of 2024, Education Partnership North East (EPNE) and Northumbria University announced a partnership centred on the HICSA, the new £20m state-of-the-art facility. HICSA will cater for students from age 14 to adulthood, offering training pathways designed to attract under-represented groups into the housing and construction sectors. Students will be offered the opportunity to study a specialised construction qualification alongside GCSEs giving young people real-world learning opportunities including site visits and work experience.

Three years ago, St Wilfrid’s RC College, which is part of BCCET, teamed up with Sunderland College in a partnership with Nissan for students to study for a Level 2 qualification in engineering (GCSE equivalent), alongside their GCSEs. The first cohort recently completed the programme in the summer. St Wilfrid’s has a similar scheme with Gentoo for students to study construction alongside their GCSEs.

Brendan Tapping, CEO of Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust, said: “We are thrilled that Sunderland College has been announced as the North East’s CTEC. We are proud to have a longstanding and strong partnership with Sunderland College and we look forward to our continued work together to develop a homegrown, skilled workforce right here in the region. This will boost our young people’s chances of thriving in a successful career.

“CTECs will address the skills shortages in the construction industry and raise industry awareness standards and crucially for our young people, it will provide well-paid, high-skilled jobs for British workers. This gives our young people an incredible opportunity to gain valuable regional access to world-class construction training. They will go on to fantastic careers in fast-growing sectors such as housebuilding, engineering construction, and green energy, strengthening our local economy and future-proofing the region’s workforce. This is great news for our region.”

Ellen Thinnesen, chief executive of Education Partnership North East, which Sunderland College is a part of, said: “We are incredibly proud to have Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust as a key partner in the North East’s Construction Technical Excellence College, based at our pioneering Housing Innovation and Construction Skills Academy in Sunderland.

“BCCET’s commitment to delivering high-quality, future-focused education aligns perfectly with our vision for transforming technical training and widening access to opportunity. Our partnership and the Gentoo Trades and Nissan Skills academies are already delivering impactful vocational pathways and building a powerful pipeline of talent that will serve key sectors and our communities across the region.”

The 10 CTECs are Derby College Group – East Midlands; West Suffolk College – East of England; New City College – Greater London; Sunderland College – North East; Wigan and Leigh College – North West; North Kent College – South East; Exeter College – South West; Bedford College – Cross-regional; Dudley College of Technology – West Midlands; Leeds College of Building – Yorkshire and the Humber.

The strategic education partners of the North East CTEC include Derwentside College, East Durham College, Northumberland College, South Tyneside College and Tyne Met College (part of Tyne Coast College), and the Education Training Collective’s (ETC) Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton Riverside colleges, providing critical CTEC spokes. Each will ensure learners across the region can benefit from the North East CTEC within the communities served by each college, as well as taking on leading roles in specialist provision.

For more information about BCCET, visit www.bccet.org.uk

For more information about the new CTEC in Sunderland, visit Sunderland College named North East’s first Construction Technical Excellence College