When the Ministry of Defence set out to find a partner to create and run its new sixth form college, it was breaking new ground in several ways. The innovative solution developed by Interserve was equally unusual.

The MoD’s Strategic Defence Review was one of the key drivers behind the Defence Training Review published in March 2001. This identified an increased demand for technically-trained officers in the changing military environment and proposed the foundation of a new Defence Sixth Form College (DSFC). This would be purpose-built with modern educational facilities and would replace the highly-respected Army Sixth Form College at Welbeck Abbey that had been operating since 1953.

The new college would be quad-service, encompassing not just the Army but also the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and MoD civil service. It would be built from scratch on a former barracks site near Loughborough, Leicestershire and, for such a long-term commitment, the MoD chose PFI as the most appropriate procurement route. Following a rigorous selection process the Interserve consortium, known as Minerva, was awarded the contract.

Uniquely, the DSFC is the first school or college in the UK being operated entirely through a PFI:  the construction, facilities management and educational services are all outsourced to the private sector. As an integrated support services group with long experience of working with the MoD and with one of the largest portfolios of PFI contracts, Interserve had the capabilities and capacity to undertake both the construction of the college and its subsequent management; to complement these skills it brought in a specialist partner, TQ Education and Training, to provide the educational expertise.

Equally unusual is the fact that performance measures in the contract include an element based on academic achievement: the system will assess the value added to students at A level by comparing their results with a benchmark derived from their GCSE performance.

The speed and efficiency of the bidding process was testimony to the MoD’s commitment and to Interserve’s understanding of the client’s requirements. The Industry Day, the MoD’s forum for discussing the project with potential suppliers, was in November 2001, only 15 months before the preferred bidder was announced, and three months later the 30-year contract was signed – a record for an MoD accommodation-related project.

Construction took just 16 months and the college welcomed its first students in September 2005. The buildings are grouped into four zones with unrestricted access across a wide expanse of sports fields:

• The central Forum contains the entrance concourse hall, dining rooms and kitchen, the main hall, administration, medical wing, student club and learning resource centre.
• A bright and airy teaching wing includes high-specification, computer-networked laboratories, workshops and classrooms.
• Student accommodation is flexible, comprising five boarding houses and integrated houses for residential house staff.
• The fourth zone consists of the parade ground and extensive sports facilities.

The college employs just over 30 teaching and 50 support staff and has a capacity of 340 students, delivering around 170 young men and women educated to A-level standard each year. In keeping with the technical bias, the curriculum is geared to the pure and applied sciences, information technology and mathematics.

Speaking at the time of the official opening, Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram said, “Welbeck offers its students an education that is unique anywhere in the United Kingdom, matched by resources and opportunities that are second to none. I congratulate the Defence Academy and the Minerva Consortium on their constructive partnership to provide this excellent, purpose-built college.”

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