Prior Pursglove and Stockton Sixth Form 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 ...

with sites in

Guisborough Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmark i ...

and

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

. The college is a result of a merger between Prior Pursglove College and Stockton Sixth Form College in May 2016. Prior Pursglove College is led by Olivia Wytcherley whilst Stockton Sixth Form College is led by Michael Mackin who is accountable to the board of governors. The college educates around 1,600 students on the Guisborough campus, and 700 students on the Stockton campus.

History

In 1561, Robert Pursglove set up a free school on the site which would later come to house Prior Pursglove College. The school existed to enable local boys to learn

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and also served as an

Almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...

for twelve local elderly residents. The school and almshouse was reformed in the 1880s to become Guisborough Grammar School, which lasted until 1971 before becoming Prior Pursglove College. Prior Pursglove merged with South Park Sixth Form College in 1997, eventually consolidating the provision of education on to the Guisborough campus.

Prior Pursglove College

Buildings

The oldest building on site was built by architect

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known for his designs ...

in 1887 for Guisborough Grammar School, and is

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 ...

. A tablet over the archway reads: "Founded in the reign of Queen Elizabeth AD 1561 Guisborough Grammar School re-erected in the reign of Queen Victoria AD 1887". The Waterhouse Building was refurbished in 2013 and now houses Foundation Learning provision. The Coverdale building is named after the creator of the English translated bible and houses humanity and language education. Construction of a specialist arts & media building was completed in October 2012. The building was named after Guisborough-born Olympic gold medalist

Willie Applegarth William Reuben Applegarth (11 May 1890 – 5 December 1958) was a British track and field athlete and winner of a gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1912 Summer Olympics. Biography Born in Guisborough, then in the North Riding o ...

and was opened by his descendants and Jade Jones, a then-current Prior Pursglove College student who competed at the London Paralympics in 2012. Other buildings include the Southpark Centre which houses the music, English and drama department and the Priory Centre which houses science, geography, geology, maths, ICT, business studies and psychology. The Priory Centre also contains a Resource Centre where students can spend private study time. The site is also home to a campus of

Askham Bryan College Askham Bryan College is a specialist land-based college based in Askham Bryan, York, England. Opened to students in 1948, it also has centres in Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Saltaire and Wakefield. Newton Rigg College became part of Askham ...

Educational provision

The college mainly specializes in full-time courses for the 16–19 age group, with a wide choice of Advanced level and intermediate courses. Approximately 1,700 full-time students are enrolled at the college studying a range of courses including AS/A level,

BTEC National Diploma The BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) Level 3 diploma is a Further Education qualification and vocational qualification taken in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The qualification is organised and awarded by Pearson within th ...

and

GCSEs The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

. The college also offers Foundation Learning courses, the Elite Project or Pathways Programme which are designed for 16- to 19-year-olds to help them get back into education, training or employment as well as a number of adult courses.

Students' Union

The college also has a

students' union A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizat ...

which is a member of the National Union of Students. The Union is led by a President and Vice President – elected by all students – and who also serve as student members of the

Governing Body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

. The college has received two awards from the

Learning and Skills Improvement Service The Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) was a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee and registered charity Charity may refer to: Common meanings * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objec ...

relating to its student voice provision. In 2011, the college received a Leading the Learner Voice Award in 'Most improved Provider’, for progress in raising the profile of student voice within the college.

Stockton Sixth Form College

Stockton Sixth Form College is the sixth form college in Stockton-on-Tees providing a range of A-level, BTEC and GCSE courses to 16–19 students in Stockton and the surrounding area. The college was established in 1973 after a reorganisation of post-16 education in the Teesside area and is based on one site at Bishopton Road West, two miles from the town centre.

Notable alumni

Prior Pursglove College

Abi Alton ''The X Factor'' is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. The tenth series began airing on ITV on 31 August, and finished on 15 December 2013. Dermot O'Leary returned to present the main show on ITV and Caroline Fla ...

– ''X Factor'' Contestant *

Sarah Borwell Sarah Leah Borwell (born 20 August 1979) is an English former professional tennis player who enjoyed her greatest success in doubles. She was the British number one in doubles. Her career-high doubles ranking is 65, set on 9 August 2010, ...

– Tennis Player *

Jonny Cocker Jonathan Cocker (born 24 August 1986) is a British racing driver. In 2012 he won the ELMS GTE Pro Championship. He competed in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) for Drayson Racing, a team run by Paul Drayson, Baron Drayson, Paul Drayson. Ca ...

– Racing Driver *

Brad Halliday Bradley Halliday (born 10 July 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender or midfielder for club Bradford City. He previously played for Fleetwood Town, Cambridge United and Middlesbrough, and had loan spells with Yor ...

– Professional Footballer *

Johanna Jackson Johanna Atkinson (née Jackson) (born 17 January 1985) is a British race walking, race walker, and Commonwealth champion from New Marske in Redcar and Cleveland. Biography Jackson was coached by her mother Maureen Jackson, a professional sp ...

– Commonwealth Champion Race Walker *

Rod Liddle Rod Liddle (born 1 April 1960) is an English journalist, and an associate editor of ''The Spectator''. He was an editor of BBC Radio 4's '' Today'' programme. His published works include ''Too Beautiful for You'' (2003), ''Love Will Destroy Ev ...

– Journalist *

Katy Livingston Katy Livingston (born 10 January 1984 in Guisborough, England) is a British modern pentathlete who has competed at the Olympic Games. Early life Whilst at school she was a member of the running club, New Marske Harriers and swimming club, Saltb ...

– Modern Pentathlete *

Faye Marsay Faye Elaine Marsay (born 30 December 1986) is a British actress. Her notable roles include Anne Neville in ''The White Queen (miniseries), The White Queen'' (2013), the recurring character Candice in ''Fresh Meat (TV series), Fresh Meat'' (2013) ...

– Actress known for

The White Queen (miniseries) ''The White Queen'' is a British television historical drama series for the BBC, based on ''The Cousins' War'' series of three interwoven novels — The White Queen (novel), ''The White Queen'', The Red Queen (Gregory novel), ''The Red Queen'', ...

and

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

Richard Milward Richard Milward (born 26 October 1984 in Middlesbrough) is an English novelist. His debut novel ''Apples (novel), Apples'' was published by Faber in 2007. He has also written ''Ten Storey Love Song,'' ''Kimberly's Capital Punishment,'' and '' ...

– Author *

Luke Myer Luke Myer (born 5 May 1995) is a British Labour politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland since 2024. Early life and education Myer was born in Middlesbrough and grew up in the village of Bro ...

- MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland and Deputy Secretary Of State For Energy Security and Net Zero * Chris Tomlinson – Long Jumper * David Sharp – Mountaineer whose death on Everest in 2006 sparked controversy * Jade Jones – Paralympic athlete, wheelchair racing

Guisborough Grammar School

* Eric Garrett – Opera Singer (1931–2009) *

Robert Holman Robert Holman (1952 – 3 December 2021) was a British dramatist whose work has been produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and the Royal Court Theatre, as well as in the West End theatre, West End and elsewhere, since the 1970s. He was ...

– Dramatist *

George King George King may refer to: Politics * George King (Australian politician) (1814–1894), New South Wales and Queensland politician * George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston (1771–1839), Irish nobleman and MP for County Roscommon * George Clift King (184 ...

– Author and spiritual leader *

Dave Nellist David John Nellist (born 16 July 1952) is a British Trotskyist activist who was the MP for the constituency of Coventry South East from 1983 to 1992. Elected as a Labour MP, his support for the Militant tendency led to his eventual expulsion ...

– Politician * Keith Williams – former British Airways chairman and CEO

Stockton Sixth Form College

* Bethany Bryan – Junior Team GB Athlete, Rowing *

Paul Smith Paul Smith is the name of: Music * Paul Smith (composer) (1906–1985), American film music composer * Paul Smith (pianist) (1922–2013), Los Angeles jazz pianist * Paul Smith (English singer) (born 1979), vocalist and songwriter of British in ...

– Musician,

Maxïmo Park Maxïmo Park are an English alternative rock band formed in 2000 in Newcastle upon Tyne. The band currently consists of Paul Smith (English singer), Paul Smith (lead vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitar, bass, keyboards, backing vocals), and Tom Engli ...

* Callum Woodhouse – Actor known for

The Durrells ''The Durrells'' (known in North America as ''The Durrells in Corfu'') is a British comedy-drama television series loosely based on Gerald Durrell's three autobiographical books about his family's four years (1935–1939) on the Greek island of ...

Allison Curbishley Allison Curbishley (born 3 June 1976) is a former British athlete from Stockton-on-Tees but who represented Scotland and specialised in the 400 metres. She competed at two Olympic Games. Biography Curbishley became involved in a play scheme ...

– BBC Five Live

References

External links

* *
Official site

College Virtual Learning Environment
{{navboxes , list1 = {{Universities and colleges in North East England {{Schools in North Yorkshire {{Schools in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees {{authority control Education in Redcar and Cleveland Sixth form colleges in North Yorkshire Guisborough Sixth form colleges in County Durham Education in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees Educational institutions established in 1971 1971 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1973 1973 establishments in England