A group of colleges and universities have secured a £75m contract to run the first women-only vocational training institute in Saudi Arabia.

The consortium, led by Epsom’s North East Surrey College of Technology (NESCOT), will develop the new college in the city of Jeddah on the Red Sea coast.

Five hundred students will start at the college in the autumn studying courses including IT, beauty, fashion, jewellery design, business administration and English.

In a country where the sexes are segregated and women need permission from a male guardian to get an education, the college hopes to empower students.

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The college in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

NESCOT’s Sunaina Mann, the first Asian principal in the UK, took part in a signing ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton luxury hotel in the capital Riyadh.

Mrs Mann said: "The opportunity for women doesn’t stop at accessing equivalent qualifications to their Saudi male counterparts.

"We will be keeping a close eye on our gifted and talented students and will seek to recruit and train them to be the college’s teachers of tomorrow."

Men will not be permitted on the site while students are in residence and 120 female staff will be recruited from Saudi Arabia and the consortium members.

Nescot is working with Highbury College in Portsmouth, Burton and South Derbyshire College, Hull University and Birmingham City University.

Besides NESCOT, the two other further education colleges are also led by women.

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NESCOT principal Sunaina Mann

Mrs Mann said: "We are passionate about this opportunity as it will provide women across the city of Jeddah with the chance to gain vocational qualifications that will help them secure their rightful place within the Saudi workforce."

In Saudi Arabia women outnumber men in higher education, but they only make up a small proportion of the job market.

The consortium was chosen from more than 500 global organisations who expressed an interest in running one of 10 vocational colleges constructed by a Saudi Government agency.

The NESCOT consortium has established a limited liability company to oversee day to day running of the college called World Class Skills.

Its curriculum has a mix of BTEC and Saudi national qualifications and its intake is expected to reach 2,000 over coming years.

Mrs Mann thanked the UK Export Finance (UKEF) credit agency, the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and Epsom and Ewell MP Chris Grayling for their support.

She said: "UKEF have played their part in facilitating a highly valuable UK export that will undoubtedly put UK further education colleges on the map."

Mrs Mann was made an OBE for services to further education in the Queen’s New Year Honours.