A NEW construction centre at Abingdon and Witney College has been met with “delight” from staff and students.

The centre, which will be based at the college’s Witney campus, is due to be finished in September but is already turning heads according to principal Teresa Kelly.

She said: “We are really delighted that we can put this facility in. We opened a construction centre a few years ago as there was such a demand for it but it is a lot smaller.

“This one is nearly finished and it’s looking really good.”

The centre is part of the college’s £23m refurbishments, which include a new engineering centre at the Abingdon campus and a new teaching facility at the Witney campus.

It also coincides with the launch of a new construction apprenticeship, which will help attract and develop talented students who wish to study as plumbers, electricians, painters and decorators, site carpenters and bench joiners.

College assistant principal Neil Brayshaw, who has been heavily involved in the centre’s construction, said the new building would allow hundreds of extra students into the college by September 2016.

He said: “There are 93,560 houses that need to be built in Oxfordshire by 2031 so we are trying to tap into the skill shortage here.

“We should be able to accept 150 new students this September, and then this number will double in the following year. We are going to have a fantastic new facility which will be a really great learning environment, preparing students for employment. We are seeing this construction centre as a significant growth for the college.”

Stuart Moffat, who is beginning his apprenticeship in September, said: “I see the apprenticeship programme as a great way of getting into the painting and decorating industry. I got in touch with the college and they helped me apply.

“It was a really easy process and I can’t wait to start.”

The college’s main sites are based in Abingdon, Witney and Common Leys Farm near Hailey. There is also a centre at Milton Park, near Didcot.

The college offers a wide range of vocational programmes and also courses at degree level, working in partnership with Oxford Brookes University.