Bradford College secures funding for brand new Future Technologies Centre

Plans are well underway for a brand-new home for our automotive and digital engineering curriculum.

Bradford College secured £13m of funding from the Department for Education, as part of their Further Education Capital Transformation Fund (FECTF), to deliver a modern automotive curriculum, fit for industry skills now and in the future.

The funding was secured in October 2022 and will allow the College to demolish the existing Junction Mills building located on Thornton Road, to rebuild a purpose-built Future Technologies Centre in the heart of Bradford, set to complete and open in Summer 2025.

The Future Technologies Centre will provide a new home for the Automotive and Digital Engineering Department, moving them from Bowling Back Lane to the brand-new premises, where students and teaching teams can take advantage of cutting-edge industry-relevant facilities*.

The funding allows the College to continue to respond to the emerging skills needs of the automotive and digital engineering industries such as electric/hybrid vehicles; robotics; advanced manufacturing and digital/3D design. 

The Future Technologies Centre will support the growth of technology and low carbon skills capacity and capability within West Yorkshire.

Stephen Smith, Head of Department for Construction and Engineering at Bradford College  “We are delighted to see plans evolving for this exciting new development which will allow our students access to cutting-edge facilities and gain skills in new technologies, making sure they are fit for careers in a fast-changing sector.”

Work on the development will start in 2023, with the launch of the new Centre, set to complete in 2025.

*All plans are aspirational and subject to planning approval.