A West End musical star will be among VIP guests at the launch of City of Wolverhampton College’s new campus on Wednesday, 26 November.
Former college performing arts student Nicole Lewis – who is currently starring in the hit show Starlight Express, in London – and Councillor Chris Burden, City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Development Jobs and Skills, will be joined by the Mayor of Wolverhampton, Councillor Craig Collingswood, and West Midlands Mayor, Richard Parker, as well as around 50 representatives from organisations across the region, at the official opening of the new city centre building.
The campus – the flagship of the council’s transformational City Learning Quarter development – started welcoming students on November 4 and hundreds have flocked to the new site since the doors opened for the first time.
Guests will be welcomed by college principal Louise Fall and hear from Cllr Burden about the positive impact that the campus will have on the life chances and employment opportunities for people from across the region.
Nicole – who studied at the former Paget Road campus from 2012 to 2015 – will talk about how the skills she gained at the college kick-started her career as a professional performer and the roles she has performed since gaining her qualification.
Ms Fall, said: “We are delighted that a long-held vision of a city centre campus has finally become a reality and that we have a modern building that students, staff and local people can be proud of.
“Bringing the building to fruition has been a major project for everyone involved and we are looking forward to welcoming our VIP guests, partners and representatives from key organisations across the region to officially open the site and have a tour of the fantastic new facility.”
Cllr Burden said: “The council is proud to have a delivered a new state-of-the-art City Learning Quarter college campus that presents students with a wealth of opportunities to thrive.
“This wonderful new facility better connects the college to the rest of the city and region, enabling it to more easily forge relationships that will benefit the students, staff, employers and everyone in Wolverhampton – these are exciting times.”
Nicole said: “Lots of little girls dream of being on the stage but thanks to the college the dream came true for me.
“I’m proud to be a girl from Wolverhampton and I’m proud of how my career has progressed – but it all started with the college and I am delighted to be involved in the launch of the new campus which will help hundreds more students achieve their ambitions, whatever sector or industry they want to work in in the future.”
The college is currently accepting applications for part-time courses starting in January 2026 and full-time courses starting in September – get details of all qualifications here
