Croydon College is a large further and higher education college located in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, within the

London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough, borough in South London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of and had a population of 397,741 as of mid-2023, making it the most populous London borough. It is London's southernmost ...

. Its origins can be traced to a School of Art that was established in 1868, which subsequently merged with Croydon Polytechnic to create the college shortly after the Second World War. The college provides study programmes, apprenticeships and higher education courses at Croydon University Centre to over 10,000 enrolled students as of 2014, of which 3,400 are full-time. The college is the only Further Education College to have been awarded the

Queen's Award for Voluntary Service The King's Award for Voluntary Service, previously known as The Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, is an annual award given to groups in the voluntary sector of the United Kingdom and the Crown Dependencies. Until 2022, awardees were announce ...

(QAVS).

History

The history of the college is directly linked to that of two institutions, the Croydon College of Art and the Croydon Polytechnic. Croydon Corporation (the governing body of the

County Borough of Croydon The County Borough of Croydon was a local government district in and around the town of Croydon in north east Surrey, England from 1889 to 1965. Since 1965 the district has been part of the London Borough of Croydon within Greater London. His ...

) founded the Pitlake Technical Institute in 1888, which would later become Croydon Polytechnic, which had an initial intake of 162 students. Twenty years earlier in 1868, the School of Art had been founded above the Public Halls in George Street. In 1929, the

Board of Education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

first highlighted the need for a new technical college to replace Croydon Polytechnic. In 1932, the School of Art was taken over by the council to become Croydon College of Art. In 1941, the Polytechnic school was gutted by fire. It was not until 1948 before the plans for a new college could be revived when the corporation drew up a Development Plan for Further Education. By then student enrolment had risen to over 4,000. The plan was to create a technical college, which would merge the Polytechnic and College of Art. Three years later, Croydon Corporation formally approved plans for a new college and in 1953 construction started at the college's current Fairfield site on the first of four stages. It opened as Croydon Technical College in 1955, renamed to Croydon Technical College by 1974. In June 1968, there was a six-day student protest that included Robin Scott,

Malcolm McLaren Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English fashion designer and music manager. He was a promoter and a manager for punk rock and new wave bands such as New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants, and ...

, and Jamie Reid (all students at the time). Recent Principals have included Peter Phillips (until 1994), Vic Seddon (1995–2001) and Mariane Cavalli (2001 to 2010). It was Vic Seddon who created the Croydon Higher Education Centre, developed by Mariane Cavalli, which is the focus for university degree and research activity in the town of Croydon. A proposal to create the formalised Croydon

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

in the Millennium year 1999–2000 was rejected by both the

Higher Education Funding Council for England The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engl ...

and Croydon Borough Council, however In November 2011, the college was given approval to use the title University Centre Croydon (UCC). Caireen Mitchell will take up the post of CEO and principal in April 2018.

Honours

In 2013 Croydon College was the first predominantly further education institution to be awarded

UNICEF UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...

's Rights Respecting Schools Award accreditation, the highest accolade awarded by UNICEF UK. In 2014 the college was awarded the

(QAVS). It is currently graded "good" by

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 ...

(2014).

Campus

Croydon College underwent refurbishment and in the summer of 2011 the £33m rotunda was completed and officially opened in April 2012 by the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

. The refurbishment included recording studios, a performance hall, a library, social and study spaces, and meeting and conference facilities. As part of the refurbishment IQ Projects designed and installed a curved structural glass wall in the space between the library and the multi-leveled atrium as well as frameless glass balustrades with stainless steel handrails to access stairs between floors. The exterior of the college is made from a structural glass facade with top hung windows incorporated to provide ventilation.

Academic organisation

Further education

Croydon College offers vocation qualifications such at BTEC Diplomas, NVQs and Entry Level courses. It also offers Apprenticeships and complementary enrichment activities.

Higher education

In November 2011, the college was given approval to use the title University Centre Croydon. In 2020, it re-branded Higher Education to Croydon University Centre. CUC offers degrees, HNC's and other Higher Education courses. The degree courses are validated by Roehampton University. In 2020, a Nursing Suite was built for the Adult Nursing degree starting in September 2020.

Croydon School of Art

The Croydon School of Art was relaunched in 2013 by fashion designer and alumnus of the art school, John Rocha. Established in 1868, it was known at one time as one of the leading art schools in the country. The school counts among its alumni pop star

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

, Turner Prize nominees Helen Chadwick and Sean Scully, Sex Pistols band manager

, Gollywog author Florence Upton, and Mighty Boosh comedian Noel Fielding. Some of the art school's traditional screen printing, etching, and letterpress equipment has been retained in its refurbished facilities.

Future

There have been plans to redevelop the area around Croydon College. These have been part of Croydon Vision 2020 and have also featured in the Croydon Plan and Croydon Expo. It includes plans to provide a pedestrian link between

East Croydon station East Croydon is a railway station, tram stop and associated bus station in Croydon, Greater London, England. It is located in Travelcard Zone 5. At from , it is the 20th busiest station in Britain, was the 10th busiest in 2020–21 (due to th ...

and the Fairfield College site. The north east corner of the area around the college site is an integral part of this pedestrian movement route.

Notable alumni

* Marie Angel, artist and illustrator * Humza Arshad (born 1985), actor, comedian and writer * Irene Bache, artist and teacher * Becca, Ghanaian singer-songwriter * Iris Brooke, artist and author * Irene Mary Browne (1881–1977), artist * Edith Carr, artist * Helen Chadwick, artist *

Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter for the Rock music, rock band the Kinks, which he led, with his younger brother Dave Davies, Dave pro ...

, rock musician, lead singer of

The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...

* Lucienne Day, textile designer *

FKA twigs Tahliah Debrett Barnett (born 16 January 1988), known professionally as FKA Twigs (stylized as FKA twigs), is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and dancer. She was a backup dancer for numerous musicians, and made her musica ...

, singer-songwriter, producer, dancer * Noel Fielding, co-writer and star of '' The Mighty Boosh'' * Stuart Humphryes, film colouriser & photo enhancer (enrolled 1986–1988) *

, impresario, manager of the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

* Robert Micklewright (1923–2013), artist and illustrator * Juan Muñoz, sculptor * Mervyn Peake, writer and poet who wrote the Gormenghast books * Jamie Reid, anarchist with connections to

Situationist International The Situationist International (SI) was an international organization of social revolutionaries made up of avant-garde artists, intellectuals, and political theorists. It was prominent in Europe from its formation in 1957 to its dissolution ...

* John Rocha, fashion designer *

Gareth Southgate Sir Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional Association football, football manager and player, who played as a Defender (association football), defender and midfielder. A Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace Crystal ...

, England national team manager, England international footballer, Premiership manager and TV pundit * Jonathan Wolstenholme (born 1950), British artist and illustrator

References

External links

* {{Authority control Further education colleges in London Education in the London Borough of Croydon Croydon 2020