Gloucestershire College is to start work on new groundworks facilities for students at its Cheltenham campus.

Following on from its success as the first college in England to drive decarbonisation, the £80,000 project is part of the college's ongoing plan to strengthen its portfolio of facilities and build even closer ties with the county's trade community.

The new groundworks workshop will enable construction and trade apprentices, as well as full-time students, to build essential skills within the sector, including using and maintaining power tools and equipment, installing and testing basic drainage and ducting, building repairs and gauging and mixing mortars and concrete by hand and mixer.

The facilities will also be used for the End Point Assessment (EPA) for groundworks apprentices, where knowledge, behaviours and skills gained during training will be tested by independent assessors.

The facilities will include three separate bays for delivery of skills and EPA, an area for storage and mixing of materials, as well as a changing room and bathroom.

Rachel Hall, apprenticeship manager at Gloucestershire College, said: "As one of the key FE and apprenticeship training providers in Gloucestershire, every year we train hundreds of skilled tradesmen for local companies.

"While the majority of our construction and building services apprenticeships and courses are delivered from Gloucester campus, we recognise the need to further expand our trade provision and facilities.

"We have listened to feedback from our employer partners, as well as our learners, about the need for a high-quality EPA-compliant workshop in Cheltenham, and we are absolutely delighted that the plan is now going ahead."

Mike Lawson, director of technology and engineering at Gloucestershire College, said: "Expanding our groundworks facilities in Cheltenham and making them EPA-compliant is an important step to help our groundworks, property maintenance and bricklaying apprentices, as well as multi-skills students, to develop and practise the skills industry needs, successfully pass their assessments and gain industry recognised qualifications."

The project will begin in this month and be completed in December.

Find out more about GC's construction and building service apprenticeships here.