A £6.5m project to build a new university centre which will help students in west Norfolk and the Fens access higher education is nearing completion.

Today construction work on the centre at the College of West Anglia (CWA) King's Lynn campus, on Tennyson Avenue, will be brought one step closer as students, staff and guests attend a topping-out ceremony to mark the building becoming watertight.

Once open in September, the university centre will be the only higher education teaching and learning facility currently available within a 35-mile radius of Lynn and will benefit up to 500 additional students from across the area in the next few years.

Those currently studying higher education courses will also be able to make full use of the new facilities.

Students will be able to access higher education programmes accredited by Anglia Ruskin University, in a range of areas including business, management, scientific, technical and engineering skills.

CWA principal and chief executive David Pomfret said: 'It has been great to see the university centre building rise from the ground and take shape over the last academic year to the point where we are now just a few weeks away from it being completed.

'I would like to extend my gratitude to the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership for recognising and supporting the need for this higher education facility in west Norfolk. I am delighted that we will now be able to offer a much broader range of degree level courses at our site on Tennyson Avenue, and hopefully, this will inspire more people in the surrounding area to develop higher level skills, which will, in turn, increase their employability.'

The building has 14 digital classrooms, a 120-seat multimedia lecture theatre, offices and a large ground-floor social space which includes a kitchen area.

Speeches will today be given by Mr Pomfret, chairman of the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership – which secured the funding – Mark Pendlington and business development manager for construction company Lindum, Neil Coote.

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