D&A College: VISION

This vision is a blueprint for what is needed to deliver 21st century opportunities for our students. Each campus will be designed to meet the needs of learners while providing future skilled workers to fuel growth and expansion in our regional ecomony. New socio-economic challenges and changes to the way our students need to learn mean that our existing campuses will struggle to deliver for our local economies. Our new sites will simulate workplaces, and private sector partners will be invited to work with students and staff to deliver the courses and outcomes needed to generate work and wealth. To reinvigorate the training, skills and work readiness of our region we will bring together employability services, both local and national, in one place on each campus. This will provide direct and easily accessible links for learners to ensure a smooth passage from education into work. Current provision is spread between sites and organisations, each with their own approaches, priorities and infrastructure. By bringing them all together we can create a seamless service dedicated to improving opportunities and life chances. To simply replace existing facilities would not be cost effective and would miss the opportunity to change the way in which the public and private sectors can work together to deliver education and improve the economic prospects of our communities. Our once innovative and exciting campuses have served us well but they are now being maintained at considerable cost without being able to provide the sort of environments even the most forward-thinking planners and architects in the post-war era could not have envisioned for the modern learning environment. Unlike our predecessors, we must also plan for a world in which every aspect of our operations move us towards being net-zero in our emissions. This means integrated transport solutions, carbon neutral services and a supply chain that reduces our environmental footprint to a minimum. We must also deliver value for money in our communities. By bringing employability services together, we will be streamlining the help available to students embarking on their journey into work. Ef ciently designed and accessible services delivered in a modern, technology-driven environment designed around modern learning will have a transformational impact on our local economies.

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