A NEW centre of excellence for student engineers was due to open its doors in Hampshire today, allowing 900 young people to “pursue their dream careers”.

A Government minister was visiting Fareham College to mark the unveiling of the £12m campus, which received £9m of public funding.

Students studying at Fareham and Gosport College sites are transferring to the Centre of Excellence in Engineering and Manufacturing Advanced Skills Training (CEMAST) centre.

They will be offered apprenticeship programmes in automotive, manufacturing, and engineering with blue chip companies such as BAE Systems and Virgin Atlantic.

The CEMAST project is the first phase of a wider £26m programme to transform Fareham College into a centre of excellence for technical, vocational and applied studies.