Stafford College's £14m teaching block is opened
A £14 million teaching block has been officially opened at Stafford College.
The Riverbank development boasts modern kitchens for catering students, a beauty salon which will be open to the public and a three-storey library stocked with 30,000 books and 300 computers.
Elizabeth Clear, who has been a regular customer of Stafford College's beauty students, was given the honour of cutting the ribbon.
The college has funded the block after Government cash was withdrawn but bosses came under fire following a poor Ofsted report earlier this year. Today, they claimed the college was back on track after students gave it the thumbs-up in a survey.
Principal Steve Willis said he hoped the "fantastic" facilities would help the college attract more students.
He said: "It's taken us almost 10 years to get here because we had to do a lot of demolition first and a lot of planning and find the funding. But it's a fantastic facility."
Originally the college had drawn up a £62m scheme to completely transform its Earl Street campus, but funding from the Learning and Skills Council fell through.
Ofsted inspectors handed the college a damning inadequate rating in May but students have given a glowing ass-essment in a survey published today.
Everyone who responded said their lecturers had good subject knowledge while 100 per cent claimed they were happy in lessons.
Mr Willis said: "This is an endorsement by the most important people, our students. Prospective students and parents of young people considering what to do after GCSEs couldn't ask for a better recommendation."
