THE number of students attending a North-East college is expected to increase by 50 per cent when its £22m site opens this year.
The new Bede College, in Billingham, near Stockton, is expected to be finished in July, in time for start of the autumn term.
The college merged with Stockton Riverside College in May last year, and the combined sites are undergoing a £27m upgrade.
Bede College, in Marsh House Avenue, Billingham, which was originally built in 1959, is being replaced.
The building, which is being erected around two spectacular three-storey glass atriums, will boast the best technology and educational resources, and will be environmentally friendly.
The college is expected to teach students from across Tees Valley and County Durham.
However, with a new sports centre also on the site, along with a variety of vocational courses, members of the Billingham community are also likely to be more involved.
At Stockton Riverside College’s Teesdale site in Stockton, £5m is being spent on a new glass atrium entrance.
Phil Hastie, assistant principal at the Riverside College, said: “Bede has been a fantastic resource to students to date, but we needed something better.
“We got the funding from the Learning and Skills Council, and we will have gone through all of
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