Connell Co-op College is 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 GCE Advanced Level, A Levels, Business and Technology Edu ...

in the Beswick Hub development,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. Run by the Co-op Academies Trust and formerly the Bright Futures Educational Trust (BFET), the college is located on the

Etihad Campus Etihad Campus is an area of Sportcity, Manchester which is mostly owned and operated by Manchester City F.C., Manchester City. The campus includes the City of Manchester Stadium, Etihad Stadium, the Academy Stadium, City Football Academy (CFA) ...

training ground built by

Manchester City Football Club Manchester City Football Club is a professional football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's (West Gorton), they became Ardwick Associ ...

as part of their redevelopment plans. The college is named after the Connell family, who were active in their local community in the 1880s and who created the church youth team, which eventually morphed into the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side. The college also serves the secondary purpose of educating members of their

youth team In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or Sports league, league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team (a ...

, who will be allocated some places to complete their secondary education. In addition to teaching the customary range of

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 ...

courses, the college also offers BTECs in business, science, and sport science.

History

The sixth form college was one of three new free schools to be approved by

Education Minister An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove, Baron Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician and journalist who served in various Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet positions under David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rish ...

in July 2012, when the name of the educational facility was revealed to be Connell Co-op College, a tribute to the Connell family of Gorton, who founded Manchester City F.C. (in its first incarnation as a church youth team) in the latter part of the 19th century. The announcement also unveiled the link between the new college and Altrincham Grammar School for Girls, which proposed the initiative and had been asked to handle the management and recruitment of staff. Later the same year, Manchester City Football Club announced that the area around the college was to be part of a larger redevelopment, with commercial space as well as community leisure facilities. In July 2018, the college planned to leave Bright Futures Educational Trust (BFET) after government intervention in 2017. Education bosses have been looking for a suitable trust to take over the college. The Co-op Academies Trust has been chosen to run the college. The Co-op Academies Trust bosses say there are no plans to make any roles redundant at the college as a result of the re-brokerage.

Notable alumni

Sophie Capewell Sophie Ellen Capewell (born 4 September 1998) is a British professional Cycle sport, racing cyclist. She won a gold medal at the Cycling at the 2024 Summer Olympics, 2024 Summer Olympics in the Cycling at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Women's team ...

, cyclist *

Ellie Roebuck Ellie Roebuck (born 23 September 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Women's Super League club Aston Villa and the England national team. She previously played for Manchester City and Barcelona and represen ...

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

References

External links

Official website
* {{authority control Manchester City F.C. Sixth form colleges in Greater Manchester Educational institutions established in 2013 2013 establishments in England