One of the county's leading college groups has received more than £200,000 in grant funding to deliver the new Higher Technical Qualifications.

The EKC Group, which runs colleges in Ashford, Canterbury, Broadstairs, Dover, Folkestone and Sheppey, will use the funds for the new qualifications at levels four and five across its campuses from September 2022.

The funding comes from the government's £18million Higher Technical Education Growth Fund.

Designed to be at a similar level to existing HNDs or foundation degrees, the qualifications have been developed by employers and businesses so they are designed to meet the occupational standard of a host of key industries.

Chief executive for the EKC Group, Graham Razey, said: “The grant will allow us to meet the emerging national skill challenges we face, as well as take advantage of the transformative opportunities presented to our sector by a government which is giving real prominence to technical and vocational pathways.”

South Thanet MP, Craig Mackinlay, added: “The fund will support providers to build capacity to grow high quality provision and raise the prestige of approved Higher Technical Qualifications amongst learners and employers. I warmly welcome this step and will continue to support Graham Razey and colleagues in any way I can going forward.”

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