Ashford College

Ashford College's new engineering extension has opened

Transcript

00:00 important for Ashford not just economically for providing high skilled workers but also visually

00:05 that this is a very important part of the town and of the town's general image for people getting

00:11 out of the station maybe here for the first time. It used to be a pretty desolate piece of land with

00:21 mobiles on it and it's been utterly transformed. I think the college building is very very good,

00:26 this extension fits in very well and somebody was commenting today that it looks as though

00:32 it's always been in place in the best possible way, it looks completely natural

00:36 but it's a good attractive building so that enhances the image of the town.

00:42 10 million pounds worth of new build will house an additional 400 students studying plumbing,

00:49 electrical, engineering, business studies and will provide industry standard, kind of world-leading

00:58 facilities for technical training for the young people and adults across the Ashford borough and

01:04 wider East Kent. The facilities we have here are, you know, they rival any industry body, they rival

01:11 you know other education institutions, you know, Ashford deserves to have this world-leading kit

01:18 and the students have responded fantastically to it. They're thrilled to be able to study in

01:23 not only a building that looks stunning but also having the kit and also really importantly the

01:28 teachers who are able to inspire them into their next careers. Ashford College joined the East Kent

01:34 Colleges group in the pandemic. My first job actually was to close the doors and say I'm

01:40 afraid to say everyone's got to go home. To see here now today the number of students studying

01:45 now at Ashford College has doubled in a three-year period. We now have a staff workforce that are

01:52 highly motivated and wanting to take this to the next level. My job now is to say well what next?