Xaverian

Xaverian College is a Roman Catholic college located in Rusholme, Manchester, England, approximately south of the city centre. Established in 1862, it is recognised as being one of the most oversubscribed sixth form colleges in Greater Manchester, along with Ashton Sixth Form College and Loreto College. As a member of the Association of Colleges, the college has an offer rate of 30% (2019).

The college is near the University of Manchester and the Royal Northern College of Music. Through its partnership with the University of Manchester, Xaverian College hosts foundational science courses on behalf of the university. Additionally, Xaverian College students benefit from access to the resources available at the University of Manchester Library.

History

1862–1976

The Xaverian Brothers, or Congregation of St Francis Xavier (CFX), are a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Theodore James Ryken in Bruges, Belgium, in 1839 and named after St Francis Xavier. The order is dedicated to Roman Catholic education in the United Kingdom, the United States and many other countries.

The college was founded by the Xaverian Brothers in 1862 and until 1903 was housed in a four-storey building on Oxford Road, Manchester. On the move to the then gated Victoria Park, it was originally housed in a building known as Firwood, but over time, through new building projects and acquisition, the campus grew.

Firwood was home to the Brothers until 1993 when the last of them left. Another former house which has now become part of the college, Ward Hall, was used as a camp for American servicemen in the Second World War.

Mancunian Films, a motion picture production company, used the exterior of the college in several of their films, including ''It's a Grand Life'', starring Frank Randle and Diana Dors. The film company sold their Dickenson Road Studios to the BBC in 1954, making Dickenson Road Studios the first regional BBC TV studio. When the BBC left in 1974 to move to Oxford Road, Xaverian inherited their lighting rigs, now used in the drama studio. From 1946 to 1977, the school was a direct grant grammar school.

1977–present

The college was a Roman Catholic grammar school for boys until 1977, when it became a mixed sixth-form college. Direct grant grammar school status ended and Xaverian became a Sixth Form College for young men and women aged 16 to 19 within the Manchester Local Education Authority. In 1993, the college principal Mrs Quinn led an expansion in student numbers, refurbished and modernised many of the buildings and updated the curriculum with vocationally based courses and the introduction of information technology across many subjects. Her greatest success, however, was to maintain the distinctive Xaverian mission and ethos in a period of much change and uncertainty.

Capital from the Xaverian Brothers and grants from the Further Education Funding Council for England (FEFC) allowed a new multi-resource building, The Ryken, to be constructed in 2002. By 2005, the FEFC had become the Learning and Skills Council and recognised the college's progress by part funding a state-of-the-art new building, which was named Mayfield.

In 2007, Mary Hunter was made principal. Hunter, whose previous experience was in the general further education sector, brought both an objective eye and a heart-felt empathy to a college truly committed to a special mission. This was recognised in the Ofsted inspection when the college was graded outstanding in all areas of the report. The college was subsequently awarded Beacon status.

Campus

The college consists of nine buildings on two sides of Lower Park Road: Ward Hall, Birtles, Marylands, Firwood, Xavier, Sunbury, Ryken, Mayfield, and Teresa Quinn built from 1840 onwards. Additions and renovations have been an ongoing feature of the campus's development, with Birtles a key example of this process. The Ryken and Mayfield buildings, added at the start of the 21st century, along with Teresa Quinn, opened in 2020, house information technology equipment. The Ryken building was named after one of the founders of the Xaverian order, Theodore James Ryken. The college buildings are around the perimeter of a central grassed area where sporting and social activities take place.

Notable alumni

Sixth form college

* Caroline Aherne (1963–2016), actress and writer
* Peter Ash (b. 1985), actor
* Andrea Ashworth (b. 1969), writer and academic
* Afshan Azad (b. 1988), actress, best known for playing Padma Patil in the ''Harry Potter'' films
* Mani (b. 1962), musician, notably the bassist for The Stone Roses and briefly Primal Scream
* Chris Ofili (b. 1968), painter and recipient of the Turner Prize
* Nedum Onuoha (b. 1986), former professional footballer and television pundit
* Lucy Powell (b. 1974), Leader of the House of Commons and Labour MP for Manchester Central
* Wunmi Mosaku (b. 1986), actress

Grammar school

* Brian Bagnall, cartoonist and writer for ''Private Eye'' (Bagnall was a writer for the satirical '' Dear Bill'' letters feature)
* Chris Buckley (1886–1973), footballer
* Anthony Burgess (1917–1993), author, poet, composer; '' A Clockwork Orange''
* Denis Carter, Baron Carter (1932–2006), agriculturalist and politician
* James Cunningham (1910–1974), Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, 1958–74
* Augustine Hailwood (1875–1939), Conservative MP for Manchester Ardwick, 1916–22
* Martin Hannett (1948–1991), record producer, musician, and co-founder of Factory Records
* Peter Hebblethwaite (1930–1994), Jesuit priest, writer, and journalist
* Bernard Hill (1944–2024), actor
* Major Henry Kelly (VC) (1887–1960), recipient of the Victoria Cross
* Bernard Longley (b. 1955), Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham from 2009
* Mani, (b. 1962) musician, member of The Stone Roses
* Tim Willocks (b. 1957), doctor and novelist

See also

* Listed buildings in Manchester-M14
* List of direct grant grammar schools

References

External links

*

Audio interview with Brother Cyril
- headmaster of Xaverian College from 1962 to 1989.

EduBase

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Catholic secondary schools in the Diocese of Salford
Schools sponsored by the Xaverian Brothers
Buildings and structures in Manchester
Education in Manchester
Defunct grammar schools in England
Educational institutions established in 1862
Sixth form colleges in Greater Manchester
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1862 establishments in England