Centre of Excellence in Engineering & Manufacturing Advanced Skills Training (CEMAST)

The Solent LEP allocated £3m from the Solent Growing Places Fund to Fareham College to bring forward ambitious plans for a new £12m Centre of Excellence in Engineering, Manufacturing and Advanced Skills Training (CEMAST) at the Solent Enterprise Zone. Since then, funding sources from the Solent Growing Places Fund, Regional Growth Fund, Hampshire County Council and Skills Funding Agency have been aligned to make the centre a reality, and the project has been delivered at a rapid rate; with the new centre opened in September 2014.

Specialising in STEM skills, the college trains more than 900 full and part-time learners, apprentices, and employees per week to support local companies in the development of new engineering and manufacturing solutions, and has helped create and safeguard over 400 jobs in the Solent area. From September 2014, CEMAST has been the main learning centre for students in apprenticeship programmes with BAE Systems, GE Aviation, Virgin Atlantic, Coopervision, Burgess Marine and Jensen Motorsport to mention but a few.

Nigel Duncan, Principal of Fareham College, said:

Our new centre will play a vital role in creating a sustainable future for the advanced engineering and manufacturing sector both on the site and across the region. It will benefit both businesses and young people as we aim to support 200 apprenticeships and teach 600 learners every year. We will actively be encouraging businesses on site to take advantage of the state-of-the-art equipment and research and development facilities that will be housed in the centre.

Further information is available at www.fareham.ac.uk/cemast.