MidKent College of Higher & Further Ed.

MidKent College is Kent's largest FE and training provider with approximately 1,000 staff and an annual turnover of £50m.  The College serves Maidstone, the county town of Kent and the Medway towns. 

The College has around 10,000 students on courses funded by the Skills Funding Agency, Medway Council or Kent County Council.  In addition, there are approximately 700 Higher Education students and nearly 600 learners on full-cost courses run by the College's Business Development Unit.

MidKent College's extensive provision encompasses diverse service industries, arts and humanities, business and commerce, engineering disciplines, computing and IT, sciences, languages and supported learning.  The student population includes sizeable cohorts of 14-16, 16-19, workbased learning, adult vocational and employer related categories.  Study levels and qualifications available at MidKent College range from Basic Skills and courses for those with special educational needs, through A Level and BTEC National, up to HND and beyond to degree, via the College's close association with the University of Kent.

The College actively participates in many cross-sectoral education initiatives, particularly with local education authority schools, HE providers and universities.  The College always gives high priority to employers' needs through its dedicated Business Development Unit and  was the first in the UK to be awarded the prestigious 'Action for Business College' (ABC) status.

In September 2009 the College opened its new purpose built, state-of-the-art Medway Campus in Gillingham.  The Campus is made up of three 95 metre blocks each five storeys high covering a total of 28,000 square metres.  The new Campus cost £86m to build and is co-located alongside the Universities at Medway and the Royal School of Military Engineering.

From Summer 2010 the College will be starting refurbishment work at its Maidstone Campus.  Over the next few years this will lead to major refurbishment of most areas at a cost of more than £15million. 

MKC Training Services Ltd (MKCTS) is an incorporated body in England and Wales and a wholly owned subsidiary of MidKent College.  On 30th August 2008 MKCTS was awarded a secondary contract to deliver the following services at the Royal School of Military Engineering (RSME):

• Training soldiers in engineering and construction trades and professional studies
• Managing the internal facilities of the buildings they work within, including the PCs and training equipment

The main contract is a thirty-year Public, Private Partnership (PPP) between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Holdfast Training Services Ltd.