Lutterworth: Special needs college launches new campus

The new campus is based on the Magna Park industrial state in Lutterworth

A college that aims to improve disability employment rates is opening a new campus in Leicestershire.

Creating Tomorrow College (CTC) is opening its third site in Lutterworth which will offer supported internships to young people, aged between 18 and 25, who have learning disabilities.

The academy trust has six schools in the East Midlands and opened the first of its three colleges in 2022.

Its aim is to help to set students up for "long-term sustainable employment".

CTC said it partnered with information management service company, Iron Mountain to create its new campus on the site of the enterprise's Magna Park industrial unit.

Students attend the college for up to three years and can progress to an internship in their second or third years.

The new campus is complete with a games room for students

A spokesperson said the internships would be "personalised" to meet each person's needs.

They added: "We could see that there were children who were coming out of school at 18 but then they quite often just fell off a cliff cause they go into the 'I don't care system'."

CTC said its aim was to address the "disability employment deficit".

The trust claimed 100% of its supported interns got jobs this academic year.

"Our commitment to preparing our students for the challenges of the modern workforce and addressing the disability employment deficit is at the heart of our mission, and the new campus will play a pivotal role in achieving that mission," said CTC principal Gareth Ivett.

The college said it was now accepting applications for September entry and all students must have an Education, Health and Care plan (EHCP).