Central College Nottingham
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Nottingham College is one of the largest
further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...
and
higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...
colleges in the United Kingdom. Based in the city of
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
in England, it provides education and training from pre-entry through to university-degree level at its 10 centres in the city and around
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
.


History

Nottingham College is an amalgamation of two former further education colleges – New College Nottingham and Central College Nottingham.


New College Nottingham

New College Nottingham (often stylised as ncn or NCN) was formed from Arnold and Carlton College, which opened in 1960; Basford Hall College of Further Education, which opened 1969; Clarendon College of Further Education, which was founded in 1919 and became a further-education college in 1948 whose current campus opened in 1960; and the High Pavement Sixth Form College, which was founded as a school in 1788 and has offered sixth form education since 1975; the current campus opened in 2001. In December 2015 New College Nottingham underwent its new inspection framework
Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...
inspection and received a Grade 2 (Good) overall, having been rated Good in all individual categories.


Central College Nottingham

Central College Nottingham was a
further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is additional education to that received at secondary school that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. It ...
college based over ten sites in
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
. The college was formed from the merger of Castle College Nottingham and South Nottingham College. South Nottingham College was founded in 1970 in West Bridgford, while Castle College Nottingham was founded on 1 June 2006 from the merger of Broxtowe College and The People's College in Nottingham. The People's College was the oldest further education college in England, having been founded in 1847. Following a public consultation, which ran from December 2010 to January 2011, it was decided that Castle College Nottingham and South Nottingham College should merge. The colleges officially merged on 1 July 2011. The merged college was renamed 'Central College Nottingham' in November 2012.


2017 merger

On 8 June 2017, New College Nottingham merged with Central College Nottingham to form Nottingham College, one of the largest colleges in the UK, with around 40,000 full-time and part-time students.


The college today

The college is a general further and higher education college and offers a range of courses corresponding to the ISCED band 4 and 5. *Vocational Courses *Apprenticeships *A-Levels *Access Courses *Higher Apprenticeships *Foundation Degrees (Higher Education) (level 5)Full-Time Courses 2019/20 Bachelor's degrees and top-up degrees. (level 6)


2019 Industrial Action

In 2019, after a ballot where 96% of lecturers agreed to uphold strike action, the college experienced a strike by members of the University and College Union (UCU) which lasted for 15 days during September and October.Nottingham College strike suspended at the eleventh hour
'' Nottinghamshire Live'', 4 November 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2022
The strike began with a boycott of the college's development day – Festival of Learning – on 1 July 2019. In protest, the UCU branch organised its own ''Festival of Yearning'' gathering outside of the Clarendon campus. The strike was a response to the college's intention to impose new staff contracts involving a potential reduction in pay, sick leave and holidays, with the threat of dismissal for those who refused to sign. Prior to the dispute-end in November 2019, a further 14 day period of action was planned and the college had asked
Acas The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) is a non-departmental public body of the Her Majesty's Government, Government of the United Kingdom. Its purpose is to improve organisations and working life through the promotion and fa ...
(Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) to mediate. An online pamphlet was later created by retired union members which examines the dispute in context of the recent history of further education in the city, and gives an account of the dispute background before and during the strike action. The pamphlet title – containing the word "revolution" – is a reference to the then-CEO, John van de Laarschot's claim in a 2017 speech at the Local Enterprise Partnership D2N2 annual conference, partially published in local press, that under his leadership, "Nottingham College will lead a revolution" in the further education sector that would include "tough love" for youngsters without the skills employers wanted. In November 2021, John van de Laarschot announced his intention to leave the college "at the end of the year".


Courses


GCSEs

Students can take or retake a GCSE subject with the college. A pass at Grade C is usually needed to progress to A-level and University level courses.


A-level courses

A-level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...
s are the traditional entry route to universities, and a
sixth-form college A sixth form college (pre-university college in Malaysia) is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 study typically for advanced post-school level qualifications such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council level ...
has been the option chosen by students that want, at 16, to leave the security and restrictions of a
secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...
. There are entry requirements to each course, students must have evidence of success at GCSEs, and normally have a pass of Grade C or above in a related subject. They will study 3 or 4 subjects. Nottingham College offers over 20 popular subjects, including a limited range of languages and more specialised subjects. All the academic subjects are studied at High Pavement Sixth Form, though Art and Textiles at Stoney Street and Photography at the Adams Building.


University-level courses

Nottingham College offers a range of university-level courses at undergraduate level recognised by the
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (usually referred to simply as the Quality Assurance Agency or QAA) is the United Kingdom higher education sector's independent expert quality body. It has a remit to maintain and enhance the qu ...
(QAA) in partnership with higher education institutions including
Nottingham Trent University Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university located in Nottingham, England. Its origins date back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham School of Design, Nottingham Government School of Design, which still opera ...
,
The Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...
,
University of Derby The University of Derby, formerly known as Derby College, is a public university in the city of Derby, England. It traces its history back to the establishment of the Derby Diocesan Institution for the training of schoolmistresses in 1851. It ...
and
Edexcel Edexcel (also known since 2013 as Pearson Edexcel) is a British multinational education and examination body formed in 1996 and wholly owned by Pearson plc since 2005. It is the only privately owned examination board in the United Kingdom. It ...
.


Locations

Nottingham College currently has ten centres around the city. Former key centres include Beeston, Clarendon, Clifton and Maid Marian Way. These were removed from the college's estate to help fund and build the "City Hub" on disused brownfield land next to the Broadmarsh Centre and tram overpass at the foot of Lace Market Cliff.


Adams Building

The Adams Building opened in 1998 with a focus for the college's Higher Education provision as well as art and design, fashion and textiles, business, digital media and GCSEs courses. Much of the provision is delivered in the
Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
seven-storey Adams Building, a converted lace factory on Stoney Street in the historic Lace Market, and at the nearby School of Art and Design. Specialised facilities include a three-camera TV studio, a radio broadcasting station, and fashion design/manufacturing studios.


Basford

The Basford centre off Stockhill Lane, on the north-western edge of the city, focusses on construction technologies with an emphasis on vocational courses. The centre has specialist facilities for bricklaying, plumbing, gas, painting and decorating, carpentry and joinery, plastering, refrigeration, tiling, welding, heating and ventilation and electrical services. In September 2015 the centre was refurbished. The £27m rebuilding project followed a £9m investment by the Skills Funding Agency.


City Hub

The college's estate includes a purpose-built
state-of-the-art The state of the art (SOTA or SotA, sometimes cutting edge, leading edge, or bleeding edge) refers to the highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field achieved at a particular time. However, in some contex ...
'City Hub' in Nottingham city centre. The City Hub offers new facilities and resources for students, plus community facilities such as a new training restaurant (Fletchers Restaurant), café and performing arts centre. Building work started on the £58 million project in May 2018 and was originally set to be completed by September 2020, but due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
and restrictions, construction work was delayed. The new opening date was January 2021 to coincide with the start of the Spring Term. It is a six-storey building designed by the Sheffield architectural practice of Bond Bryan. Constructed by Wates, it provided training and employment opportunities including 24 work placements, 16 new jobs, 13 apprentice placements and training for 11 NVQs. The City Hub is part of the wider Broadmarsh regeneration plans, led by
Nottingham City Council Nottingham City Council is the local authority for the city of Nottingham, in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. Nottingham has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous ...
.


Highfields

Highfields is located on University Boulevard. Created in association with
Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
, the centre has ten workshops, a car showroom and a learning resource centre.


High Pavement Sixth Form

High Pavement is a dedicated A-Level centre on Chaucer Street in the heart of the city's academic district. The £6.3 million building was designed by Ellis Williams Architects; it has six floors with classrooms and computer suites, a Learning Resource Centre and a café.


High Pavement history

The Sixth Form College was previously the 11–18 'High Pavement Grammar School', first established in 1788 as the ' Unitarian Day Charity School' behind the High Pavement Chapel on High Pavement, in the Lace Market area. From 1895 until 1955, the school was in Stanley Road in
Forest Fields Forest Fields is an inner-city area of the City of Nottingham, in the county of Nottinghamshire, England. Geography Forest Fields is slightly north of the city centre, just past the Forest Recreation Ground. The area includes 31 streets from ...
, then moving to the Bestwood Estate. High Pavement Grammar School competed in '' Top of the Form'' on the
BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...
against Wyggeston Girls' School (it became Regent College, Leicester) on Monday 14 November 1950; the programme had been recorded on 18 October 1950. The school team made it to the semi-final of the England section (with four sections for each nation) on Monday 11 December 1950, where the team was beaten 35–28 by Woking County Grammar School for Boys, who next competed against
Manchester High School for Girls Manchester High School for Girls is an English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for girls and a member of the Girls School Association. It is situated in Fallowfield, Manchester. The head mistress is Helen Jeys who took ...
in the England final. Later a boys team took on a team from Northampton High School for Girls, in heat 5, on Sunday 17 October 1965 at 6pm on the Light Programme. The headmaster Harry Davies appeared on a discussion programme on the
BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...
on Thursday 29 August 1957 at 9.15pm entitled ''The Leicestershire Experiment'', about a scheme in parts of Leicestershire for early comprehensive schools starting September 1957. The Director of Education for Leicestershire, who featured in the discussion, described the 11 plus as 'an offence against reason and public conscience' – he most disliked the 'segregation' of children. The host of the discussion was Stuart Maclure, later the editor of the
Times Educational Supplement ''TES'', formerly known as the ''Times Educational Supplement'', is a British weekly trade magazine aimed at education professionals. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in ''The Times'' newspaper. Such was its popularity th ...
. . On Wednesday 16 July 1958 on the Home Service, Harry Davies appeared in a discussion programme entitled ''Should the grammar school go?'', with Ronald Bielby, the headmaster of
Huddersfield New College Huddersfield New College is a former grammar school and current sixth form college located in Salendine Nook on the outskirts of Huddersfield, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. On 30 November 2023 the college was assessed as 'Good' fol ...
, and Dame Margaret Miles, the headmistress from 1952 to 1973 of Mayfield School, a girls' grammar school on West Hill, Wandsworth in Putney, (and a well-known strong advocate for comprehensive schools; but Mayfield School as a comprehensive never lasted, and had to close in 1986) The headteacher appeared on a radio programme on Wednesday 30 January 1963 at 8pm called ''The Universities and Higher Education: Signposts for Expansion'' on the Third Programme (since 1967 Radio 3) and on Monday 15 May 1961 at 7.30pm, he appeared on a Network Three on the radio programme ''Starting a Career'', a radio series of twelve programmes, in an episode called ''What does it lead to?'', with the host Brian Groombridge, part of a collection of radio series called ''Listen and Learn''. The programme was repeated on the Home Service on Wednesday 27 December 1961. With the introduction of comprehensive education in Nottingham, the grammar school became High Pavement Sixth Form College in 1975, and in 1999 merged into New College Nottingham. It moved to its current site on Chaucer Street in 2001.


London Road

The centre, which is five minutes from Nottingham station and tram terminus, is the college's technology centre. It has three automotive workshops with 32 ramps as well as general engineering facilities.


Ruddington

This centre is home to Emtec Colleges Limited as well some of the industry's training providers. Training takes place in facilities in Ruddington where automotive training in conjunction with motor manufacturers has been taking place for over 15 years.


Stapleford

The centre provides specialist facilities for students with a range of physical and learning difficulties and disabilities as well as for other Foundation Learning courses.


Wheeler Gate

Your Look Hair and Beauty Salon, located on Wheeler Gate (just off Old Market Square) is a modern industry-standard commercial salon dedicated to hair and beauty courses and open to the public. The salon was originally completed in September 2014 and was officially opened in November 2014 under the name Salon Central by British hairdresser Beverly C .


NILA

The New College Nottingham International Lifestyles Academy (NILA) opened its campus in
Gurgaon Gurgaon (), officially named Gurugram (), is a satellite city of Delhi and administrative headquarters of Gurgaon district, located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest ...
, India on 22 January 2013 in partnership with the Batra Group. NILA was NCN's first overseas campus and offered British higher-education qualifications (BTEC
Higher National Diploma Higher National Diploma (HND), part of the Higher Nationals suite of qualifications, is an academic higher education qualification in the United Kingdom and various other countries. They were introduced in England and Wales in 1920 alongside th ...
s) in Hospitality Management, Interactive Media, Retail Management and Fashion Management. Programmes were designed by the college in consultation with employers, in line with Indian
National Skill Development Corporation National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is a not-for-profit public limited company incorporated on July 31, 2008, under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956 (corresponding to section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013). NSDC was set up by Mi ...
(NSDC) priorities. The college in 2014 decided to withdraw from the project.


Notable alumni

Former students of the college include: * Finn Atkins, actress *
Richard Beckinsale Richard Arthur Beckinsale (6 July 1947 – 19 March 1979) was an English actor. He played Lennie Godber in the BBC British sitcom, sitcom ''Porridge (1974 TV series), Porridge'' (along with its sequel series ''Going Straight'') and Alan Moore ...
, actor *
Samantha Beckinsale Samantha-Jane Beckinsale (born 23 July 1966), known professionally as Samantha Beckinsale and Sam Beckinsale, is a British actress. She played firefighter Kate Stevens in '' London's Burning''. Early life Beckinsale is the only daughter of acto ...
, actress * Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano *
Carl Froch Carl Martin Froch (; born 2 July 1977) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2002 to 2014, and has since worked as a boxing analyst and commentator. He held multiple world championships in the super-middleweight division, i ...
, boxer * Robert Lindsay, actor * James Morrison, singer and songwriter *
Su Pollard Susan Georgina "Su" Pollard (born 7 November 1949) is a British actress, singer, songwriter and author whose career has spanned over 50 years. Pollard is most known for her role in the sitcom '' Hi-de-Hi!'' She also appeared in the sitcoms '' Y ...
, comedy performer, singer and actress * Mark Pollicott, mathematician * Steven Price,
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...
-winning composer


High Pavement Grammar School

* John Bird, satirist (1948–55) *
Peter Bowles Peter John Bowles (16 October 1936 – 17 March 2022) was an English screen and stage actor. He gained prominence for television dramas such as '' Callan: A Magnum for Schneider'' and '' I, Claudius''. He is best remembered for his roles in sit ...
, actor (1948–55) * Michael Breheny, Professor of Planning 1991–2003 at the
University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...
* John Burnett, social historian *Prof
Kenneth Burton Kenneth Burton FRS (26 June 1926 – 22 November 2010) was a British biochemist, and Professor at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He was educated at High Pavement Grammar School (Nottingham), Wath Grammar School and King's College, Cambri ...
, Professor of Biochemistry 1966–88 at
Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is a red brick university and a mem ...
, 1954–66 at the MRC Unit for Research in Cell Metabolism, Oxford *
Louis Essen Louis Essen OBE FRS(6 September 1908 – 24 August 1997) was an English physicist whose most notable achievements were in the precise measurement of time and the determination of the speed of light. He was a critic of Albert Einstein's th ...
, physicist who invented the caesium
atomic clock An atomic clock is a clock that measures time by monitoring the resonant frequency of atoms. It is based on atoms having different energy levels. Electron states in an atom are associated with different energy levels, and in transitions betwee ...
and determined the
speed of light The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant exactly equal to ). It is exact because, by international agreement, a metre is defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time i ...
(1920–27) *Prof Anthony Cross, Professor of Slavonic Studies 1985–2004 at the University of Cambridge (
Fitzwilliam College Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college has origins from 1869, with the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer academically excellent students of all ...
), Roberts Professor of Russian 1981–85 at the
University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...
, Chairman 2001–05 of Academia Rossica, Reviews Editor since 1971 of the
Journal of European Studies A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...
, and winner of the 1997 Alec Nove Prize * Simon House, violin player * Freda Jackson, actress *
Stanley Middleton Stanley Middleton FRSL (1 August 1919 – 25 July 2009) was a British novelist. Life He was born in Bulwell, Nottinghamshire, in 1919 and educated at High Pavement School, Stanley Road, Nottingham, and later at University College Nottingh ...
, author and 1974
Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...
winner (1930–37) * Trevor Morley, footballer *
Ken Olisa Sir Kenneth Aphunezi Olisa (born 13 October 1951) is a British businessman and philanthropist. He is the first black Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London. He founded and led the AIM-listed technology merchant bank Interregnum and now leads Restora ...
, businessman and former
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...
board member, the first British-born black man to serve on the board of a
FTSE 100 The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most market capitalisation, highly capitalised ...
company and the first black Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London (1963–70) * Tim Robinson, cricket umpire and former
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
cricket captain *
Harold Shipman Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English doctor in general practice and serial killer. He is considered to be one of the most prolific serial killers in modern ...
, serial killer (1957–64) *Sir
Arthur Elijah Trueman Sir Arthur Elijah Trueman (26 April 1894 – 5 January 1956) was a British geologist. Life Trueman was born in Nottingham, the son of Elijah Trueman, a lacemaker, and his wife Thirza Newton Cottee. He was educated at High Pavement School in N ...
, Professor of Geology 1937–45 at the
University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...
, and President 1945–47 of the Geological Society (1905–12) * John Turner (actor) (1943–50) * Philip Voss, actor *Sir Rowland Wright, Chairman 1975–78 of ICI, Chairman 1978–83 of Blue Circle Industries, Chancellor 1984–91 of
Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...
(1927–34)


Forest Fields Grammar School

* Graham Allen, Labour MP 1987–2017 for
Nottingham North Nottingham North was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. Under the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the constituency was abolished. Subject to major boundary changes – including gaining ...
*Sir David Nicholson, Chief Executive 2011–14 of the
National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * {{Coord, 52.9529, -1.1435, type:edu_region:GB-NGM, display=title Education in Nottingham Educational institutions established in 1999 Further education colleges in Nottinghamshire 1999 establishments in England Higher education colleges in England