Grantham College is to receive a £2.7m investment to expand facilities and equipment for Higher Education and Skills in Engineering and Digital as part of its successful Institute of Technology bid.

The college is part of a collaboration of Lincolnshire Further Education Colleges and the University of Lincoln working together to create an Institute of Technology (IoT) focused on delivering higher level technical education with a clear route to high skilled employment.

The overall investment from the DfE is likely to be around £15m.

The University of Lincoln's bid was one of 12 successful applications to receive a share of a £15m fund to improve HE facilities.

Grantham College Principal and Chief Executive Paul Deane said: "I am delighted with the success of this bid and would like to congratulate everyone involved for their hard work.

"The Lincolnshire IoT will be a landmark commitment, creating a step change in the productivity of Lincolnshire - involving approaching £37m of investment. The £15mof resources from the DfE as capital funding will be complemented by £21m of investment through its partners.

"I would like to thank local employers for their tremendous support for this bid; they understand that this investment will be critical in supporting us to help fill their skills gaps and drive improvements in productivity in the future."

Work at the college is to start immediately, with the first student intake this September.

In addition, Stonebridge House is to be redeveloped with completion of the state-of-the-art facilities in September 2020.

Assistant Principal for Higher Education Dr Steven Peacock added: "Grantham College will use the funding to refurbish Stonebridge House creating a facility that blends the historic character of this beautiful building with the modern high-tech facilities required to support the creation of the engineers and digital experts of the future."

An IoT is a prestigious and high quality employer-led institution delivering higher level technical education with a clear route to high skilled employment

IoTs will be a new type of institution, tailored to focus on the specific technical skills needs in their area. They will be created through innovative collaborations between employers and FE and HE providers; harnessing the teaching expertise of HE and FE, research expertise of HE, and industry knowledge and expertise from employers.

They will specialise in technical disciplines, particularly STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) at levels 3 (up to a limit of 20% of overall provision) 4 and 5, but also extending to degree level and above (level 6+) to strengthen routes into higher levels of technical education, as well as directly into employment. The cohort of an IoT would include young people, but also older learners who may be in employment already.

Grantham College is now recruiting for IoT link tutors in Engineering and IT – contact the college's HR department at [email protected] for more details.