Plans for a new university technical college (UTC) for Essex were submitted last week. Harlow MP Robert Halfon has been working closely with Harlow College to prepare a bid to bring a UTC to Harlow.

The bid has has been publicly backed by a number of organisations. These include Harlow and District Chamber of Commerce, Essex FSB (Federation of Small Businesses), the Chartered Institute of Journalists, Pearson UK and the Joint Contracts Tribunal Ltd. Prime Minister David Cameron and Education Secretary Michael Gove, who is due to visit the college in the autumn, have also backed the bid.

However, Harlow College principal Colin Hindmarch has stressed that there is still a long way to go yet.

“It’s still very early days,” he told FE Week. “We’re encouraged by the amount of local interest and positive support for the bid.”