Case study: Abingdon & Witney College’s Construction Skills Centre and Green Construction Skills Centre

Both completed around five years ago, Abingdon & Witney College’s Construction Skills Centre, based in Bicester, and Green Construction Skills Centre, based at their Abingdon campus, were key capital projects identified to equip the county’s young people and adults with the skills needed to secure employment within a key sector in Oxfordshire.

Whilst being identified as having a significant skills gap in construction – with demand far exceeding supply in the county – Oxfordshire was found to have world-leading potential in innovation in low-carbon technologies. With the UK’s ambition to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, the Bicester Construction Skills Centre project with Abingdon & Witney College has seen the creation of a curriculum that responds to this: with plumbing for renewable technology, electrical installation, carpentry and joinery.

The project, which completed in March 2021, features a practical teaching space, which includes specialist technologies and equipment to ensure that the students are receiving the relevant skills.

The total project cost was £1.39m, including £0.93m of funding secured by OxLEP (now Enterprise Oxfordshire) through the government’s Local Growth Fund.

With the project’s outputs and outcomes now complete, key achievements from the project include the creation of 1,325msq of new learning floor space, 748 new learners supported onto courses leading to full qualifications and 137 new learners assisted on other courses.

In August 2020, the government announced its Getting Building Fund, which set out to provide a much-needed boost to Oxfordshire businesses and communities in the wake of Covid-19. OxLEP secured £8.4m of investment from the fund to deliver a series of projects for Oxfordshire.

Projects with a focus on emerging green economy and low-carbon initiatives to address the climate emergency were also an underpinning key focus as to where this funding was allocated – with Abingdon & Witney College securing £2.7m of funding towards a £4.5m project for a new Green Construction Skills Centre in Abingdon.

The decision to build the centre came from the continued large skill shortage in the industry and built on interest from young people in the sustainability agenda. The Centre set out to complement the Bicester Construction Centre, alongside the Construction Skills Centre already at the Witney campus.

The Green Construction Skills Centre opened in September 2022 and has since gone on to help meet the forecast demand for green construction skills by offering a variety of training programmes in low or zero-carbon new build and retrofit construction.

The Centre offers training programmes for young people in Oxfordshire, including school engagement activities, full-time courses for 16 to 18-year-olds (including T Levels), higher-level programmes and apprenticeships.

The completely new-build facility also benefits those already operating in the construction sector, as well as people looking to enter it, through adult training programmes and upskilling courses.

Courses have been designed with the input from key employers and sector bodies – such as the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) – as well as those with specialisms and an interest in green issues, with training focused on areas such as low or zero carbon technologies for both new build and retrofit construction projects.

With the outputs and outcomes of the project now complete and reported, the Centre has seen 504 new learners (on courses leading to a full qualification), 320 new learners (on other courses), whilst addressing a shortage of skills in Oxfordshire and supporting a greener and cleaner future.

Both Centres, alongside the existing Witney Centre, continue to thrive and have far exceeded the targets the projects set out to achieve.

Find out more about the Green Construction Skills Centre (Abingdon)

Find out more about the Construction Skills Centre (Bicester)