SWINDON College is in the running to become part of a government drive to tackle the skills shortage in computing, manufacturing and life sciences.

It is one of only 16 colleges in the country to reach the final round of bidding to become an Institute of Technology.

Principal Steve Wain said: “We are delighted our bid has been selected to advance to the final stage which commences in July. The bid group’s anchor partners - comprising local colleges, employers including Nationwide, Catalent Pharma Solutions, Excalibur Communications LTD and Bath ASU and universities with support from the two local enterprise partnerships, Swindon and Wiltshire and G First - believe the bid has significant merit and will do all they can to ensure the £17 million project is successful.”

If it wins approval the institute will be responsible for training more than a thousand higher level apprentices and students in subjects like advanced manufacturing, digital and computing and creative industries.

The bulk of the funding would be used to convert existing buildings at Swindon College’s North Star site into an IOT. It would be a separate entity from the college with its own facilities and the higher level focus would mean most of the people studying there would be over 18.

New technical courses would be brought to Swindon for the first time and the main campus would be backed by satellite centres, including one in Cirencester, which would encourage students to combine study with education locally instead of leaving for universities outside the area. It is hoped that the attraction of a job in Swindon’s growing technical sector and a debt-free higher education would prove to be a draw.

Stephen Marston, vice-chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire, the anchor university for the bid said: “The UK’s technology and productivity challenges are well documented. The network of IOTs the Government is planning could play a major part in meeting these challenges.

“The University of Gloucestershire is delighted to be the anchor university for this bid, which, if approved, will represent a significant boost for higher education in Swindon. “It will offer new opportunities for people in Swindon, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire to gain high level technical and professional qualifications, helping employers in the area to recruit the skilled people they need.”

He added: “We are pleased that the bid has passed stage one of the bidding process. We look forward to working closely with partners to secure the final go-ahead for this exciting project.”