Education Today Education Today Magazine
The Oaks Specialist College in Tonbridge has unveiled its new home learning centre, The Point, which opens to learners this week.
Sustainable construction firm, TG Escapes, designed and built the new building using modular construction methods. The Point was completed in just six months, allowing education to continue at The Oaks with minimal disruption, and is fully open to learners from Wednesday 12th November.
The single-storey, 435m2 building will be used by learners aged 18 to 25 with a variety of special educational needs and disabilities. It features four flexible learning spaces, including a workshop with specialist provision for those with physical disabilities (such as a riser kitchen, a track and hoist, and accessible self-care facilities), plus a media space where learners can practice skills like coding and film-making with specialist equipment adapted to their needs.
The Point is part of a £1.8m project to expand the special educational provision at The Oaks. After initial plans were approved in early 2025, work began in March and was completed in October.
This expansion also represents a major cost saving (£1m per year) for the local authority. Educating a learner with a physical disability at The Oaks costs around £42,000 a year, compared with an annual average of £141,750 for out-of-county placements, as per a feasibility report by Kent County Council. By increasing local capacity, The Oaks can support more young people with special educational needs and disabilities closer to home while helping local authorities ease the financial pressure of high-cost EHCP placements.
TG Escapes was chosen to design and build The Point because of their sustainable construction methods, biophilic design principles, and specialist experience in the education sector — an area in which the company recently won the Education Estates Award for Modular Provider of the Year.
