Mock hospital ward and court room could be built at Wigan college

Orrell St John Rigby College has submitted a planning application to Wigan Council for a new annexe to deliver a T-level curriculum.

T-levels are two-year technical programmes which are an alternative to A-levels and BTech courses.

These two-year courses, which launched September 2020, have been developed in collaboration with employers and businesses so the content meets the needs of industry and prepares students for work, further training or study.

The college will be delivering T-levels in health, science, digital, and management and administration.

College principal Peter McGhee said: “We are hoping to get going with the new building in the next few months.

“The T-levels have developed such that they are teaching skills and offer work placements which we are keen to input.

“We felt it was time to run them as well as the BTech and A-levels.

“We are expecting the number of students doing T-levels will go up year by year.

“The reason for the new building is because if you want to deliver this then you need to have specialist equipment.

“One of the rooms on the ground floor is going to have the flexibility to be changed to be able to turn into a hospital ward.

“We will be able to open that space up so that students can move between theory and practice.”

He went on to say that their future plans include a law course and they could create space for a mock courtroom.

The aim is to have the building complete by March 2023 and the only disruption for students will be increased noise from construction at certain points in the year.

The new build has been located between two existing blocks (A and F) in order to infill the gap within the building line fronting Gathurst Road.

The design and access statement said: “Whilst providing a new elevation fronting Gathurst Road, the building’s position also provides a backdrop for the creation of an inclusive social space as part of future campus developments.

“The new T-Levels building will allow construction works to be undertaken with minimal disruption to the curriculum delivery of the College.

“As the new building is located between Blocks A and F, there will be no impact on trees, college servicing or parking.”

No decision has been made on this matter by Wigan Council yet.

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