Crawley College is a

college of 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 ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

. It offers courses ranging from

Sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

and

Adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained educating activities in order to gain new knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralph G. ''The Pr ...

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

courses through partnerships with universities.

History

Crawley College was formed in 2017 after a merger between Central Sussex College with Chichester College. Central Sussex College was formed in August 2005 from a merger of Crawley College and Haywards Heath College.

Crawley College

Crawley College of Further Education was opened in 1958 by

County Council at the campus in

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

town centre. The college offers many technical courses, particularly in engineering fields, and was later known as Crawley College of Technology from 1977 until 1989.

Haywards Heath College

Haywards Heath Grammar School opened on 9 September 1958, being run by East Sussex Education Committee with 800 boys and girls. It became 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 ...

. Haywards Heath College was established in 1980 and offered mainly courses for 16- to 18-year-old students following on from

compulsory education Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all people and is imposed by the government. This education may take place at a registered school or at home or other places. Compulsory school attendance or compulsory sc ...

History of Central Sussex College

Central Sussex College had five campuses across the county, offering a variety of services at each, and a commercial training centre in Horsham, Horsham Training Centre. * The

campus at ''College Road'', Crawley, offered a variety of technical and professional courses, including engineering, hair and beauty services, food, information technology and construction. It was the largest of the campuses as well as being the centre through which

courses are undertaken in partnership with the

University of Chichester The University of Chichester is a public university located in West Sussex, England, which became a university in 2005. Campuses are based in the city of Chichester and the nearby coastal resort of Bognor Regis and an associate campus for comm ...

and the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

. Crawley College's College Road campus is the tallest building in Crawley at 11 storeys. * The

Haywards Heath Haywards Heath ( ) is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, ...

campus at ''Harlands Road'' in the west of the town, north of Dolphin Leisure Centre. It offered mainly post-compulsory courses such as

Advanced 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 au ...

courses and BTECs. The campus attracted mainly students in the 16-18 age bracket. * There were two campuses in

East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...

at Queensmere House in the town centre offering many adult education and IT-based courses, as well as a beauty salon, and at the Birches Industrial Estate where there was a vocational centre working in partnership with the local

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 ...

s. * The final campus at the Victoria Business Centre in

Burgess Hill Burgess Hill () is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town, Chichester. ...

provided vocational training in brickwork, plumbing, electrical installation, welding and motor vehicle engineering. * Horsham Training Centre in Hurst Road, Horsham, was a professional training centre for adults offering one day and short courses including IT, leadership and management, health and safety and business skills. Central Sussex College has closed two of their campuses due to a £25 million debt. The East Grinstead campus closed in the summer of 2016 and the Haywards Heath campus closed in the summer of 2017. There had also been discussions about selling of one of the rear car parks in the Crawley campus in order to pay off some of the debt. In 2017 it was revealed that Central Sussex College was looking at merging with Chichester College; the idea was welcomed by both colleges. In an interview with S. Wright and S. Legrave (the Central Sussex College Principal and the Chichester College Principal) they said "We believe that a merger between our colleges will create opportunities around financial sustainability and ensure a diverse and employer led curriculum to meet local business and community needs...We remain committed to ensuring quality teaching and learning and believe that collaboration provides the opportunity to grow income, share costs and work in broader geographical areas." during the summer of 2017 the merger took place, Central Sussex College, in Crawley was renamed "Crawley College", the same name it had when it was during it last merger in 2005.

2021 incident

On 26 April 2021, a 18-year old former student entered the college with a blank-firing gun and a knife causing panic during which two staff members confronted and subdued him. In March 2022 he was convicted of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and having a bladed article on school premises. He was sentenced to five and a half years in a young offender institution.

Enterprise

The college has trainee hairdressing, beauty salons, and a restaurant open to the public. These allow students to train with real customers. Intuition is the brand name for the college's trainee hairdressing and beauty salons at Crawley.

Notable alumni

Crawley College of Further Education

* Liz Byrski, journalist

Crawley College of Technology

Michael Dempsey Michael Stephen Dempsey (born 29 November 1958) is an English musician, best known as the bassist for the Cure and The Associates (band), the Associates. Biography Dempsey was born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now known as Harare, Zimbabwe ...

, bass guitarist of

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

from 1977 to 1979 *

Laura Moffatt Laura Jean Moffatt (''née'' Field; born 9 April 1954) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Crawley from 1997 until 2010. Early life Born Laura Jean Field in Wandsworth, London in 1954, she came to Cr ...

, Labour MP from 1997 to 2010 for

Haywards Heath College

Brett Anderson Brett Lewis Anderson (born 29 September 1967) is an English singer best known as the lead singer and primary lyricist of the band Suede. After Suede disbanded in 2003, he fronted the Tears with former Suede guitarist Bernard Butler in 2004� ...

and

Mat Osman Mathew David Osman (born 9 October 1967) is an English musician and author, best known as the bassist in the rock band Suede. Osman and singer Brett Anderson are the only two remaining founding members left in Suede, and perform along with dru ...

of the band

Suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, Textile, fabrics, Handbag, purses, furniture, and other items. Suede is made from the underside of the animal skin, which is softer and m ...

* Mathew Bose, actor

Haywards Heath Grammar School

* Tim Godwin OBE,

Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis The Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, commonly referred to simply as the Deputy Commissioner, is the second-in-command of London's Metropolitan Police Service. The rank is senior to Assistant Commissioner, but junior by one ra ...

since 2009 *

Anne Milton Anne Frances Milton (''née'' Turner; born 3 November 1955) is a British former politician and lobbyist who served as List of education ministries, Minister of State for Skills and Apprenticeships from 2017 to 2019. She was Member of Parliament ...

, Conservative MP for

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

from 2005-2019 *

Philip Payton Philip John Payton is a British-Australian historian and emeritus professor of Cornish and Australian studies. Payton is also Vice-President of the British Australian Studies Association at the University of Exeter and formerly director of the ...

, Professor of Cornish and Australian Studies at the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

Greta Scacchi Greta Scacchi ( , ; born 18 February 1960) is an actress. Born in Italy to a British-Italian couple, she was raised in Britain and finally settled in Australia, becoming a naturalized citizen. Scacchi had her first leading role in the romanti ...

(briefly), actress

References

External links

* *
EduBase

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Crawley Further education colleges in Sussex Educational institutions established in 1958 1958 establishments in England