Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group (NSCG) has a national reputation for educational excellence. As Staffordshire’s largest and most successful further education college, NSCG remains one of only two providers in the region to be recognised as ‘Outstanding’ in every category of the Ofsted Education Inspection Framework.
They are also the highest performing college in Staffordshire and one of the top performing further education colleges in England for apprenticeships. With an unrivalled range of courses, including A-Levels, T-Levels, vocational courses, apprenticeships and higher education provision, they strive to offer a broad and varied curriculum that meets the needs of employers and enables learners to contribute to the cultural and economic prosperity of the local area, and beyond.
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Over the past 18 years Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group (NSCG), has undergone dramatic change, with Ellis Williams supporting their transformation through the provision of Estate Strategy, Masterplanning, Architectural Services, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design. At the heart of this change has been a commitment to producing a series of buildings of the highest quality totalling over £120m to inspire, enthuse and promote the value and ethos of the College.
Throughout this journey, the College has recognised their role as ambassadors in promoting climate change and has wherever possible sought to embrace sustainable technology recognising their commitment to the pupils they serve and the environment as a whole. The Newcastle-under Lyme Campus well demonstrates this commitment. It was awarded the highest BREEAM score of all College’s throughout the UK on it’s completion. Thanks largely to the close, cooperative and huge interest provided by the College, the £50million new campus was delivered ahead of programme and within budget, providing flexible new educational facilities for over 3,000 full time students.
Following on from the success of the main campus building and a extensive growth in student numbers, the College delivered a number of further projects in Newcastle under Lyme. These included:
- New £5.5m Performing Arts Centre with a 200-seat auditorium, specialist music studios, recording facilities, dance studios, general teaching space and a student cafe. The scheme achieved BREEAM ‘Excellent’
- New Sports Hall & Outdoor Sports Facilities at Newcastle-under-Lyme College including FA-accredited MUGA and four-court sport hall to Sport England standard and dedicated to local hero Gordon Banks
- A £6m Construction and Engineering Centre of Excellence
- A state of the art T-Levels Centre
- NSCG also acquired a run-down listed 19th Century Mill and Farm building at Gradbach in the heart of the Peak District, which they converted to form an Outreach Centre to support students growth and wellbeing, as well as delivering opportunities for catering students to grow their skills in a live environment
In 2016 The college continued to grow and evolve – resulting in the merger of Newcastle-under-Lyme College and Stafford College in 2016 (forming NSCG). Our team supported the college throughout this process, providing further estate strategy and masterplanning services to maximise the potential of both campuses. This has resulted in a number of major projects including:
- New £28m, 3-storey landmark Skills & Innovation Centre at Stafford College. The new centre is equipped with cutting-edge equipment and state-of-the-art facilities for construction, engineering and hybrid / electric vehicle maintenance facilities, as well as IT rich seminar suites and open learning break-out spaces along with a 4-court sports hall, a fully-equipped gym and a flexible 300-seat auditorium
- Major remodelling and refurbishment of the college’s old Broadeye building to create a new Science & Technology Centre at Stafford College
- New £16m state of the art Institute of Technology
Looking to the future, the college have partnered with Keele University, Burton & South Derbyshire College and key employer partners for the new £22.5m Institute of Technology, which will bring together industry, education and research to jointly design and develop education and training opportunities in targeted STEM areas, with a focus on developing skills in the built environment, health sciences, sustainability and digital technology / innovation to support local economic growth.
