With its Sheppey College extension almost complete and a decade of growth behind it, East Kent Colleges (EKC) Group continues transforming lives and driving economic growth
In February 2025, the first sod was turned for the EKC Sheppey College extension. Seven months later, the near-finished building stands ready to welcome students to an enhanced curriculum and an even wider range of opportunities.
Behind Sheppey College stands the East Kent Colleges (EKC) Group, a family of six community-based colleges and nine training centres across East Kent. This latest investment from the Group forms a key element of Swale Borough Council’s Sheerness Revival Project, funded by the UK government to boost health, leisure, education and employment prospects across the Isle of Sheppey.
The expansion of the college will enhance its capacity and facilities, and enable the delivery of an exciting new selection of programmes tailored to meet local industry needs. Not only will brand-new engineering pathways be on offer to meet local skills needs on the Island, but a new Junior College provision has also been introduced for learners aged 14-16. Looking ahead, EKC Sheppey College also plans to broaden its curriculum further with new logistics pathways set to launch in the 2026/ 2027 academic year – a move designed to support the growing warehouse and distribution sector across Sheppey.
Over the past decade, EKC Group has been on an extraordinary growth journey. As the largest provider of further education and technical skills training in the region, it delivers learning to more than 7,000 young people, over 5,000 adult learners and 1,300 apprentices each year. Recognised as an Outstanding provider by Ofsted in 2023 and winner of several prestigious awards, the Group stands as a beacon of educational excellence and economic empowerment.
EKC Group’s investment underscores its commitment to giving students the strongest possible start in their chosen careers. “We have continued to invest in our facilities in a bid to ensure our students are ready to face the world of work once they complete their college course,” explains Lucy McLeod, chief executive officer of EKC Group. “Through industry-standard facilities and outstanding training, our learners can put their best foot forward and enter employment confidently, thanks to their college journey.”
From acquiring sites in Ashford, Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone and Sheppey to merging East Kent College and Canterbury College to form East Kent Colleges Group, and then branching out to serve all six districts of East Kent, EKC Group’s impact has been transformational.
Central to this growth, EKC Ashford College has been revitalised with a major new extension to meet the borough’s needs. Significant investment has also upgraded the Spring Lane Campus, enhancing its land-based and animal-care courses, while more than £10 million has been invested in a new campus at EKC Folkestone College, creating cutting-edge learning spaces for students. Coinciding with the current Sheppey College extension, EKC Group’s second major capital build is the Margate Digital Campus at EKC Broadstairs College. Designed to anchor digital creative businesses in the area, the new campus is set to turbocharge the local economy.
EKC Group prepares its students for successful careers in a wide range of industries – among them, construction, where EKC Sheppey College now offers specialist courses in Construction and the Built Environment, designed to meet both student ambitions and local industry needs. “At EKC Group, we believe it is vital that we prepare our learners for life beyond college and future employment,” says Lucy. “We invest in our state-of-the-art facilities so our learners truly get a feel for how they will use their skills in the real world.”
The college’s brick workshops, for instance, feature individual bays and an outdoor builder’s yard, giving students the space to hone their techniques with professional tools. Alongside this practical training, learners gain valuable exposure to the industry through close collaboration with employers. “Our T Level learners complete more than 300 hours of work placement as part of their qualification, which provides them with invaluable first-hand experience and knowledge of working in the industry they are training in. Similarly, lots of our lecturers have first-hand experience of working in the sector, so they can pass on this important knowledge to their students.”
EKC Sheppey College also works with local organisations to strengthen stakeholder engagement and create real opportunities. A standout example is Persimmon Homes, one of the UK’s largest housebuilders, which kindly donated 3,000 bricks to students to use during their studies. Such contributions give learners essential hands-on practice and the practical skills that will directly benefit them in their future careers within the construction industry.
The extension of EKC Sheppey College is a clear example of how the Group continually adapts its curriculum to meet local skills demands. “When developing our curriculum at EKC Sheppey College for the extension, we worked closely with industry partners to find out what skills were needed locally,” says Lucy. “This led to our chosen focus on engineering, logistics and creative pathways – skills and career routes which are in high demand on the Island.”
This approach is mirrored across all EKC Group sites. “We believe it is vital to support students to learn skills which will help them to secure employment once they finish their studies,” Lucy adds.
Strong links with major employers reinforce the Group’s commitment. EKC Group has Memorandums of Understanding with leading construction firms, including Morgan Sindall, Jenner Group, WW Martin and Willmott Dixon. “These all ensure that we are teaching the skills that industry needs, with employers helping inform curriculum design, and offering guest lectures to show how students can progress in industry.”
Across EKC Group, designated Industry Liaison Officers continually forge new partnerships with employers and help students secure valuable work experience placements. “Recently, we have seen one of our EKC Canterbury College learners go on to gain full-time employment with Jenner Group, a construction company they did work experience with during their time at College,” Lucy shares.
These kinds of partnerships also shape the curriculum itself. Lucy adds that, as part of one collaboration, EKC has co-designed and co-delivered curriculum with Morgan Sindall as part of their ‘Knowledge Quad’ initiative. This programme is designed to enable learners to build a real understanding of the industry, develop their professional networks and get the skills they’ll need to progress seamlessly into industry when they complete their course.
As the largest construction training organisation in the South East, EKC Group is committed to developing the next generation of skilled practitioners in the construction sector. “Collaboration with employers is in our DNA, so we work hard to understand their needs to ensure we’re able to deliver against them,” explains Lucy. “We know there’s a huge skills gap in construction, and we are doing everything we can to ensure we deliver for this priority sector for its continued future growth.”
The Group works closely with the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce on Local Skills Improvement Plan priorities and relies on its Industry Liaison Officers to build strong relationships with employers and identify local skills gaps. This insight allows EKC to adapt its curriculum to meet demand and prepare students to be outstanding employees ready to enter the workforce as soon as they qualify.
The construction sector is evolving rapidly, with sustainability, digitalisation and modern methods of building reshaping how projects are delivered. EKC Group equips its learners to thrive in this changing landscape by continually updating its curriculum to reflect emerging technologies and trends. This includes regularly updating curriculum offer to build in up-and-coming ideas such as AI.
To embed sustainability and modern building methods, EKC has partnered with Ashford Borough Council and Folkestone & Hythe District Council to offer a range of fully funded courses for residents and workers aged 19 and over. From Green Skills to Coaching and Mentoring, the courses are designed to unlock future job opportunities in the area. Beyond formal courses, EKC also produces in-house student campaign content to give learners the tools, skills and knowledge needed to succeed beyond the classroom.
At 900 sq m, the EKC Sheppey College extension brings space for a broader curriculum, introducing new creative, engineering and logistics courses designed around local skills needs. These additions will give learners the specialist knowledge and practical experience to pursue their ambitions both on the Isle of Sheppey and beyond. Early growth in student numbers already reflects the buzz of anticipation across the community for this vibrant new environment. “Everyone at the Group is extremely excited to see the extension of EKC Sheppey College take shape,” says Lucy. “We hope this new extension will mean we are able to serve more of the Swale community and meet the skills needed most by local employers and our industry partners.”
EKC Group is also finalising a new five-year strategic plan with ambitious goals that respond to the fast-changing world of work. Lucy states: “We fully recognise that the world is changing rapidly –as are the skills that young people need to be equipped with to flourish and succeed. Over the coming years, we will be doing everything we can to ensure we are able to deliver those skills to continue to benefit the communities we proudly serve.”
As one of the region’s biggest employers and a key driver of workforce development, East Kent Colleges Group has spent the past decade expanding its reach. Its next chapter promises to build on that success, continuing to transform lives, strengthen local enterprise and drive East Kent’s future prosperity.
