VIDEO: First look inside National College for Nuclear

The two-storey college, at Lillyhall, will open its doors to students next month.

It will bring a new way of teaching to the North of England.

The flagship college is at the forefront of learning in the 21st century and is designed to "deliver the workforce of tomorrow".

National colleges bridge the gap between further education colleges and university, getting its students ready for the workplace.

The centres of high-tech training, the Government says, will ensure the UK has skilled people in industries crucial to economic growth – high speed rail, onshore oil and gas, digital skills and the creative industries and nuclear.

Lillyhall was chosen as the location for the northern hub of the National College for Nuclear and its southern counterpart is based in Somerset.

They are both due to be officially opened in February, although students will start studying there from mid-January.

Partners in the northern college are Sellafield Ltd, the University of Cumbria and Lakes College West Cumbria.

Combining theoretical work with hands-on experience, the curriculum has been designed specifically for the nuclear industry and its supply chain and they have had input into it.

Virtual reality rooms, where students can experience working in a nuclear environment without risk, an engineering workshop equipped with the latest in technology, laboratories and simulated 'restricted' areas aim to give a comprehensive view of the work involved at a nuclear plant.

The virtual reality suites are the first of their kind in West Cumbria and add a new dimension to learning.

Les Agnew, operations director, says: "And it's not just our students who will benefit. Employers in the supply chain wil be able to import 3D drawings onto the system so they will be able to walk around their designs – be they buildings or nuclear reactors."

Paul Fairclough, director of nuclear training and curriculum, says: "It's a new way of learning. It's very much experience-based.

"The students – studying for honours and foundation degrees – will have an expectation placed upon them of how to behave in a nuclear setting.

"There will be simulated radioactive fields and they will be expected to understand the consequences of actions in those fields."

As well as the initial £7.5m investment from the Government, sponsorship and investment from companies means the college has been able to invest in world-class technology.

It has made sure that the kit is portable.

"We want to support schools in their teaching of subjects like maths, science and technology," says Mr Agnew. "We're exporting our knowledge and skills out to the younger generation to give them the opportunity to experience them."

Robotics, thermodynamics, control systems and electrical power are among the subjects which will be studied at the college.

Because it is funded by the Department for Education, the new college is involved in the pilot of the T-levels, revealed in the recent Budget by Chancellor Philip Hammond.

There is the opportunity for students to experience remote working – as they would at a nuclear plant – a barriered area which simulates working in a hostile environment and the best industry standard IT equipment and packages.

Up to 300 students will be taught at the two-storey college, which is an imposing building on the edge of the A595.

It took 12 months to build and the red exterior represents West Cumbria's iron ore industry, its black features representing coal – fusing together the past and the future.

A sculpture outside the college's entrance carries on the theme. On a three tonne plinth on slate from Honister Slate Mine, the globe, designed by Alan Dawson, includes iron ore, coal and limestone.

Students from the next-door Lakes College West Cumbria worked on the sculpture, which is sponsored by Morgan Sindall.

Lakes College and Sellafield Ltd are very much a part of the National College for Nuclear.

Mr Agnew adds: "Each of the partners has invested around £500,000 a year, in terms of resources and time, to the National College for Nuclear, which is a virtual organisation."

Mr Fairclough says: "Lakes College has invested in a new nuclear team of five, who will deliver the curriculum. They have professional nuclear experience and academic qualifications. The college in Somerset has around the same number."

As well as a cohort of full-time students, there is scope for firms in the nuclear supply chain across the country to send their workers to the college for block release.

Mr Fairclough adds: "We've had a lot of interest from elsewhere. Our first cohort of students are from West Cumbria but we are on the footing of a regional or national college."