COUNCILLORS hope they are now closer to bringing a university to the town after approving a £7m University Technical College (UTC).

At Tuesday’s special cabinet meeting, Coun David Renard was given permission to proceed with producing an application for a new style academy school, backed by Oxford Brookes University and Swindon College.

This comes after the Government earlier this week announced 13 new UTCs to offer highly technical subjects to teenagers from next year.

Colleges announced already include one at the Silverstone motor sport circuit, set up with Northampton University and a local college.

The other 12 new UTCs will be established in Bristol, Buckinghamshire, Burnley, Bedfordshire, Daventry, Liverpool, Newcastle, Nottingham, Plymouth, Sheffield, Southwark and Wigan.

There are already two UTCs open in England, one sponsored by heavy plant manufacturer JCB in Staffordshire and the other, the Black Country UTC, in Walsall in the West Midlands.

The Government-funded UTC will offer diplomas, GCSEs and A-levels in subjects likely to be geared towards engineering.

“They will cater for up to 800 students between the ages of 14 and 19, but will not offer degree level qualifications.

They are sponsored by a university and aim to offer clear routes into higher education or further learning in work.

Employers shape the curriculum as well as setting projects and offering work placements.

Prime Minister David Cameron championed UTCs as a way of “offering first-class technical skills to those turned off by purely academic study”.

It will now be down to Coun Renard to submit an application to the Department for Education and identify sponsors for the college.

These could reportedly be car firms Honda or BMW, which both have large bases within the town.

A location for the college complex has also got to be identified and a town centre plot is expected to be the council’s preferred siting.

Coun Renard said: “The Government have just announced 13 UTCs and it is our aim to have an application ready to take part in the next batch of bids.

“I think it is the general consensus we would want a town centre location. As soon as we are able to bring a recommendation forward, we can go on from there.

“We now need to get a number of employees on board.”

Coun Mark Dempsey said he hoped a UTC would help pave the way for an actual university in years to come.

He said: “Hopefully, it will be the first step on the way to bringing a university to Swindon.”