The new college will be next to The Bridge development, pictued, on the site of the old Joyce Green Hospital, Dartford

A new university technical college specialising in engineering and computer science will open next year.

The Leigh UTC, for 14-18-year-olds, will be built on the site of the old Joyce Green Hospital in Bob Dunn Way, Dartford.

The college will be run by the Leigh Academies Trust which already oversees the Leigh Technology Academy in Dartford, York Road Junior Academy and Language Unit in Dartford, Wilmington Academy, the Milestone Academy in New Ash Green – for pupils with special needs – and Longfield Academy.

Trust chief executive Frank Green said: “We’re hoping to be open next September for the start of the new academic year. We’re in the processes of signing contracts and organising builders now and hope to start building the school this summer.”

The project was approved by the government a while ago but has been kept under wraps until now. Last week the government approved 13 other UTCs across the country, bringing the total to 45.

It replaces a plan revealed last May for one to be built at the North West Kent College site.

The colleges are marketed as a radical solution to boosting the number of technicians and engineers in this country, and work differently to schools:

Pupils are aged 14 to 18.

The UTC day is 8.30am to 5pm – but there is no homework.

The school year is 40 weeks long, with either four or five terms, adding the equivalent of a whole extra year of instruction for every two years a pupil is in the UTC rather than a normal school or college.

Each UTC must be strongly supported by a university, in this case Greenwich University, and local employers.

Employers are involved from the start in designing and delivering the curriculum.

Pupils spend the equivalent of two days a week on practical study and three days a week on academic study.

Each UTC provides at least one technical specialism alongside the key GCSEs in English, maths and science, as well as a modern foreign language and humanities.

Extra-curricular activities are compulsory, and could include sports clubs and work towards the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

All pupils study a foreign language related to their technical curriculum.
Work experience is a central element of the curriculum.

Another UTC is due to open in Medway in September 2015, specialising in engineering and construction.

A new media school may see the Leigh Academies Trust take over a school outside the Dartford borough.

As reported in last week’s Messenger, it has signed an agreement with The Stationers’ Company, to convert an existing school into one specialising in media and publishing.

The five schools currently run by Leigh are all in the Dartford borough area but the new one may be further afield.

Frank Green, the trust’s chief executive, confirmed the new academy will be a secondary school, but said the trust may expand further east into Kent, or go into London.

He said: “We are very excited by this development as it marks the start of our growth beyond Dartford.

“We have made sure that our model is secure, that the quality of education is very good and that we have the capacity to grow further.

“This is a terrific opportunity and we look forward to working with the Stationers’ Company for many years to come.”