STUDENTS and staff at York St John College are celebrating after securing £4 million to provide arts facilities for the 21st century.

The college has secured Government funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) over the next five years to develop its Centre of Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL).

St John's, which has 5,000 students, fought off stiff competition from much larger universities during a bidding process which involved 269 universities across England.

Their project, called Collaborat-ing For Creativity (C4C) focused, on the excellence of the college's teaching within the arts, especially literature and theatre studies, and included a new public exhibition and showcase studio with state-of-the-art facilities.

It will be used to host writer's festivals and art exhibitions and to attract, authors and artists to York from around the country to display and talk about their work.

The money will also be used to build on partnerships with city organisations such as City Screen and the Theatre Royal as well as others across the region.

College principal Professor Dianne Willcocks said the funding, which represents the Council's largest single funding initiative in teaching and learning, will enable York St John to continue its work at the forefront of arts practice in the region.

Prof Willcocks said: "I am absolutely delighted that the overall excellence of teaching and student achievement in the college and the strength of the School of Arts' partnerships with organisations in the city of York and beyond, has been singled out for recognition and reward in this way.

"This is a significant moment in the history of the college, and marks a new stage for its involvement in the cultural and educational life of the city."

Gweno Williams, National Teaching Fellow, is a member of the team at the college who prepared the bid.

She said: "York St John is going from strength to strength where learning and teaching excellence are concerned and we are building towards a very exciting and positive future."

Ms Williams will begin work with literature students next semester in one of the first initiatives to take place under C4C.

Updated: 10:26 Saturday, January 29, 2005