New £2.1m Campus to Equip 3,000 Learners for Sizewell C and Major Projects
East Coast College's Lound Civil Campus, funded by Sizewell C's ASEC Fund, will provide vital engineering and construction skills for regional infrastructure development.
By Rebecca Flint
••4 min read
AI
Construction site for the Lound Civil Campus project near Sizewell C, East Anglia.
A new £2.1 million project at East Coast College will equip up to 3,000 learners with essential engineering and construction skills over five years, supporting Sizewell C and other major infrastructure projects.
The Lound Civil Campus project, based at East Coast College, aims to establish a dedicated training hub. In collaboration with regional employers, it will focus on meeting the current and future skills demands within the civil and construction trades.
Funding for the initiative comes from the Asset Skills Enhancement and Capability (ASEC) Fund, which received £2.1 million. This pot was secured through the planning process for Sizewell C and is managed in partnership by Suffolk County Council, East Suffolk Council, and Sizewell C. The fund is allocated to enhance the skills supply chain for Sizewell C, as well as addressing broader regional needs.
The campus is set to offer a diverse range of training opportunities designed to boost skills and support workforce development across the sector. It will provide inclusive access to high-quality vocational education for new entrants, individuals looking to change careers, and existing workers seeking to up-skill.
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"The Lound Civil Campus will open doors for Suffolk learners, providing them with the skills, knowledge and opportunities they need to take their first steps into construction and engineering. From gaining entry-level skills to developing and upskilling throughout their careers, the campus will help create clear pathways into exciting and rewarding careers across the sector."
Cllr Vicky Armstrong added: “By investing in people and developing the skills our region needs now and for the future, the project will leave a lasting legacy for Suffolk. It will support the growth of opportunities around Sizewell and beyond, helping to position Suffolk as a leading place to live, learn, work and invest for future Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.”
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"The ASEC funding has provided us with the unique opportunity to develop a regional training facility to help current and future individuals to receive training linked to job opportunities. The funding will allow us to create and deliver courses for new entrants as well as skilled workers."
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"When skills and workforce are locally based, it provides a genuine legacy for East Suffolk, and the Lound Civil Campus is a huge step in that direction. This is not just in relation to SzC but for the many renewable energy projects that are currently operating and organisations that are being attracted, for example, to the Lowestoft Power Park development. It is essential that young people from all backgrounds have access to the training and experience that will make them players in the decarbonisation energy revolution that East Suffolk is playing such a major part in hosting."
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"It's a national as well as a regional imperative to create more opportunities and build the skilled workforce we need for the future. This new campus at East Coast College is an important part of how our region is responding to this need – and we are delighted to provide the funding to make it happen. We want to leave a lasting legacy of skills, employment, and opportunity in the East of England, and our relationship with East Coast College is central to that ambition: our partnership has already led to the creation of Nucleus, an on-campus employability hub, and the Lound Civil Campus is another significant investment in skills and job opportunities for communities here. We can’t wait to see the impact it will have for thousands of people in our region."
The project is planned in multiple phases. The £2.1m ASEC funding has supported Phase 2, focusing on the implementation of a Technical Operators area, with work already underway. Phase 3, which involves refurbishing existing site infrastructure to create a new training area for construction-specific learning, is anticipated to begin within six months of the completion of the previous phase.
Based on information from the official source: East Suffolk Council (05/10/2026)
