East Sussex College Receives Grant for Digital Skills & Interactive Collaborative Classroom as Part of £1 Million Skills Capital Fund

East Sussex College will soon launch a new digital skills and interactive classroom at its Ore Valley Campus, thanks to funding from the Skills Capital Fund.

This classroom, designed to equip students with essential digital literacy and job readiness skills, and will feature cutting-edge immersive mixed reality technology, creating hands-on learning experiences to prepare students for a rapidly evolving digital workforce.

The Skills Capital Fund, managed by East Sussex County Council, has allocated £1 million across 11 projects aimed at boosting local training opportunities and employability across Hastings and Rother. The selected projects support Skills East Sussex's priorities to strengthen the local economy by creating a skilled workforce and expanding training opportunities for both young people and adults, with a focus on emerging technologies and net-zero goals.

Rebecca Conroy, CEO & Principal of East Sussex College, expressed her enthusiasm for the new interactive classroom: “We are so proud to be part of this vital initiative to expand skills training and employability opportunities across Hastings. Our new digital skills classroom at Ore Valley will enable us to deliver innovative, interactive training that equips students with the digital skills they need to thrive in today’s workplace. We are very grateful for the support from East Sussex County Council and the Skills Capital Fund in making this a reality.”

This new facility at East Sussex College is one of several local projects to receive funding. The Skills Capital Fund’s investments aim to address training needs across the area and support growth in priority sectors, while utilising new technologies to enhance the quality and accessibility of local skills development.

Cllr Penny di Cara, East Sussex County Council’s lead member for economy, said, “The Skills Capital Fund will make a huge difference to so many people in the Hastings and Rother area, and we are delighted to have been able to work with colleagues at borough and district councils to distribute the money among extremely worthy projects. The successful projects will address the needs of specific groups of learners in our community, target sectors where we expect to see growth, and use the latest in cutting edge technology to enhance the quality of local skills and training.”

For more information about the Skills Capital Fund and Skills East Sussex’s work to support local training and employment, click here.

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