East Durham College's Houghall Campus is constantly changing and evolving, adapting to new challenges and adopting new practices to ensure its students have all the skills they need to make a success of their future.
The college has recently invested heavily in this regard, with £12m to make Houghall fit for the future and ensure it offers state-of-the-art facilities, £1m of T-Level funding to refurbish its arboriculture and land-based engineering workshops, and £600,000 towards specialist technical equipment to support the delivery of the new T-Level qualifications in agriculture, land management and production.
Our 476-acre farm boasts a wealth of enterprises that reflect farming in the region.
Informed by a modern technical approach, the farm is deeply connected to the industry so students can learn from the best in the world. It has a strong commercial, environmental and sustainable approach to food production that will prepare the next generation of innovative farmers and growers.
We’ve invested £256,00 of T-Level funding in grassland and arable machinery to improve the quality of conserved grass and grain, reducing the cost per tonne and the time required. Students also get ‘hands-on’ experience with the most up-to-date machinery, including a Tenstar Tractor Simulator so they can make their first moves in safety, regardless of the weather.
Agricultural engineering, our latest offer, is proving highly successful. The support from industry has been fantastic, with our learners picking up key positions within this vital and rewarding sector.
The department is closely connected to the farm, informing our choice of machinery, negotiating on our behalf, and allowing students to field test their work and carry out essential repairs and maintenance on the farm equipment.
Our Animal Management Centre allows learners to develop the practical skills employers value through working with 70-plus varied species, while our on-site kennels, training paddocks and science labs set learners up to progress into employment and university, and even into veterinary medicine degrees.
In addition to working on our college farm and challenging and improving animal welfare through research and investment, our partnerships with various organisations mean we offer a rich and ambitious curriculum for students from Level 1 up to our new degree programme. Our fully equipped dog grooming parlour provides modern facilities for dog grooming courses from Level 1 to Level 3.
Our arboriculture courses teach the science and practical skills needed for the upkeep of trees and give our students the opportunity to take part in competitions and progress into great jobs in the Northeast and beyond. Our course offer stretches from Level 2 apprenticeships to a Level 1 Diploma, with a full range of short courses for those seeking their next development opportunity.
Next year’s learners will benefit from a £1.4m investment in workshops. Revamped with a multi-million investment in new facilities, Houghall’s Equine Centre boasts an outdoor riding area, large indoor arena, classroom facilities and automatic horse walker, tack room and a large stable block that houses our resident horses.
We regularly host competitions and clinics, as well as offer part-time courses.
Our full-time learners are encouraged to undertake BHS challenge awards and BHS stages. We will soon be taking delivery of a mechanical horse which will allow learners to experience cross country jumping in a safe environment.
There are few courses as creative as floristry, where you will learn everything from how to make hand-tied wedding bouquets to complex floral designs, taught by award-winning lecturers. From winning gold at Harrogate for their Highland Cow to being a finalist in this year’s World Skills, our floristry students get so many opportunities to show off their skills in competition.
We also offer introductory horticulture courses for adults which are ideal for keen gardeners or those who would like to get into gardening. This is an area under rapid development, with radical approaches to growing fresh
produce, herbs and flowers. Our PhD student is pioneering a no-till deep mulch technique that will revolutionise production methods!
Our long-established and high-quality apprenticeships in horticulture, green keeping and sports turf offer a great way to develop knowledge and skills while earning.
With a strong focus on practical skills, our land & wildlife students work with a range of work placement providers to make both a big impact on the sector and to the nature around them – from smashing gender stereotypes in gamekeeping to making significant contributions to projects such as the National Harvest Mice survey. Off-site work compliments the practical work on Houghall’s stunning estate with acres of woodland, fields and ponds.
This course is perfect for anyone who is practically minded and doesn’t mind getting their hands dirty! Students are a vital part of the farm’s commitment to conservation.
Last, but certainly not least, we offer both Level 2 and Level 3 study programmes in vet nursing.
Our experienced and skilled lecturers deliver strong pass rates and run a number of CPD events for clinical coaches and registered veterinary nurses.
Our CPD event on October 12 is the perfect opportunity for practice staff to learn from our clinical behaviourist and talk to us about how we can support your practice with its skills needs.
