Ian Austin, Regional minister for the West Midlands has announced a £36m investment in the £282 million project for a state-of-the-art learning quarter in Stoke-on-Trent.

The University Quarter brings together Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent FE College and Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College in a unique learning quarter that will encourage people to progress into university education.

The University Quarter will see major improvements to an important area of Stoke-on-Trent – between the railway station and the city centre.  The improvement will include new shared facilities for the colleges and the university as well as commercial and residential development.

The £282m project has already secured almost £180m from the Learning and Skills Council, Staffordshire University, Stoke on Trent FE College, Stoke on Trent Sixth Form College, Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Advantage West Midlands. The rest of the investment will come from the Higher Education Funding Council for England, RENEW North Staffordshire and the private sector.

The 400 acre University Quarter is one of a number of key priorities that Advantage West Midlands and the North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership (NSRP) have identified in North Staffordshire.