Reading College is a

further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...

college based in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Ber ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It has over 8,500 local learners on over 900 courses. The Kings Road site that is the principal location of Reading College has been used for further education since 1955, when the Reading Technical College was opened. This was renamed the Reading College of Technology in 1967 and the Reading College of Arts and Technology during the 1970s. Thanks to a merger with the Berkshire College of Art and Design (in Maidenhead), it became the Reading College and School of Arts and Design in 1997. It was taken over and became part of Thames Valley University in 2004. Thames Valley University continued to offer further education courses at the site, whilst also offering

higher education Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after compl ...

courses more in keeping with its status as a

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

. In 2009, the Thames Valley University decided to concentrate on higher education. In 2010 the responsibility for further education, along with the Kings Road site, were transferred to a relaunched Reading College. The college is a partnership between

Activate Learning Activate Learning is an education and training group based in Oxford. It runs schools, further education colleges and work-based training across Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Surrey, and delivers higher-education and international study programmes ...

, (an educational group working alongside

City of Oxford College City of Oxford College is a further education college in Oxford, England. It has two campuses – the City Centre campus in Oxford city centre and the Technology Campus in Blackbird Leys, south east of Oxford city. Introduction It used to be ...

and

Banbury and Bicester College Banbury and Bicester college is a further education college in Oxfordshire, England. It has two campuses – one in Banbury and one in Bicester. Introduction Previously called Oxford & Cherwell Valley College (OCVC) Banbury and Bicester col ...

) and the

Learning and Skills Network LSN (Learning and Skills Network) was an independent not-for-profit organisation in the United Kingdom that provided consulting, outsourcing, research, technology and training services for learning and skills. It went into administration in Novem ...

(LSN), a

not-for-profit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

active in education and training. Reading College and Activate Learning are lead sponsors of UTC Reading, a

university technical college A university technical college (UTC) is a type of specialist secondary school in England that is led by a sponsor university and has close ties to local business and industry. These university and industry partners support the curriculum developm ...

which opened in September 2013.

Notable alumni

Derek Brockway Derek Clifford Brockway (born 29 October 1967) is a Welsh meteorologist. After 30 years of being employed by the Met Office he joined the BBC in October 2016. Brockway is based at BBC Cymru Wales in Cardiff, Wales and presents weather forecas ...

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

meteorologist and TV presenter

References

External links

*
Official website
Education in Reading, Berkshire Educational institutions established in 2010 2010 establishments in England {{UK-university-stub