Newcastle College

Newcastle College

Established	1930 (officially) / 2007 (merged)
Type	General Further Education
Location	Scotswood Road Newcastle upon Tyne Tyne and Wear NE4 7SA England
DfE URN	130552
Ofsted	Reports
Staff	1218
Students	c28,000 (2009-2010)
Gender	mixed
Ages	14+
Colours	blue. white
Website	www.ncl-coll.ac.uk

Newcastle College is a Further Education and Higher Education college in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the largest mixed economy College in the country and claims to offer more courses in more subjects than any of its geographical competitors.^{[citation needed]}

In 2004, the College received a Grade 1 ('outstanding') Ofsted inspection, placing it among the top three in England and Wales. This was followed in 2005 with the prestigious Learning and Skills Beacon Status award, only nine of which have ever been awarded to an FE college. The college maintained its outstanding grade in the 2008 Ofsted inspection.

History

The College was founded in 1894 as Rutherford Memorial College, becoming Rutherford College Secondary School for Boys in 1945. In 1930 the President of the Board of Education Charles Trevelyan founded the Trevelyan Building for girls.^{[citation needed]} In 1962 the college was divided into two separate divisions, the college of Further Education and the Charles Trevelyan Technical College. In 1972 the two colleges merged and became known as Newcastle College.

According to The Journal, the college was falling into disrepair in the late twentieth century. Dame Jackie Fisher, who joined the college as principal in 2000 and later became chief executive of the group, suggests that the buildings were in a poor state due to lack of investment in the 1990s and that the structure of the college was wasteful. The restructuring took Fisher and her team three and a half years, with the college, as of September 2011, turning over £150m a year, compared to £45m in 2003.

NCG

Newcastle College is a division of NCG (formerly Newcastle College Group). With a turnover of more than £155million, NCG is one of the largest education, training and employability organisations in the UK.

In August 2007, the college merged with Skelmersdale & Ormskirk College, a college in Lancashire; it was later renamed West Lancashire College in August 2011.

Intraining was formed in March 2008, following the acquisition of TWL Training in December 2007, and the purchase of the troubled training organisation Carter & Carter in March 2008. This lead to the introduction of the Newcastle College Group (NCG).

In November 2011, the group also acquired the UK-wide voluntary youth sector charity Rathbone. The college attempted to merge with Northumberland College, but the Ashington-based college rejected the merger plans in response to feedback from their staff, students and local MPs.

In November 2005, the Times Educational Supplement reported that lecturers who rebelled, "against new contracts, were defeated after they faced losing their jobs." Following cuts by the coalition government, the college reorganised its curriculum structure leading to 200-equivalent full-time job losses, with 188 new jobs created in 2011. The restructure lead to the grade, and therefore salary, reduction of many teaching staff. Shortly after redundancies were announced, The Guardian reported that NCG's chief executive, Dame Jackie Fisher, "enjoyed a pay rise, including bonus and retention payment, of almost £73,000." However, the report mentions a spokeswoman's defence of the pay rise, pointing out "that Fisher is responsible for three divisions with an annual turnover of £152m in 2009-10." Also in 2011, allegations of workplace bullying were publically made against college management. These allegations were repeated on the BBC's regional Inside Out programme in January 2012. NCG vehemently refuted these allegations stating that “it takes any allegation of bullying extremely seriously and has a clear and transparent process for dealing with staff concerns. All reported allegations are always thoroughly investigated and dealt with appropriately.

Campuses

The Parsons Building at the main campus.

The Rutherford (left) and Trevelyan (tower block) Buildings

The main campus is situated at Rye Hill, close to Newcastle city centre. However, some courses and services are delivered form elsewhere. "The Sandyford Building" is located within Northumbria University's main campus, and Newcastle Aviation Academy is located next to Newcastle International Airport. There are several other campuses in neighbouring towns, such as the "John Marley Centre" in Benwell and a construction centre at Low Walker.

Work started on the construction of a new Sixth Form centre at the Rye Hill campus in August 2011. Designed by international architects RMJM, the building is scheduled to open in 2013.

Facilities

Performance Academy: Opened in November 2004, the £21m Performance Academy at Newcastle College is one of the UK’s leading training centres for music, performing arts and media. The facility comprises a 250 seat theatre; ten recording studios; acting, music and dance studios; and its own record label. Former students from the Performance Academy include Joe McElderry and Perrie Edwards from Little Mix who won The X-Factor in 2009 and 2011 respectively.

Lifestyle Academy: September 2006 saw the opening of the £16m Lifestyle Academy, offering the latest training resources for students studying hospitality, beauty, hairdressing, travel and tourism, and sport.

Energy Academy: The Energy Academy in Wallsend is a centre of innovation, training and development for the offshore wind sector. Opened September in 2011, the 20,000 sq ft centre provides skills training to employers within the renewable energies sector and to young people in the region.

In addition, NCG also owns West Lancashire College.

Higher education

Newcastle College offers HE qualifications as well as FE. These include Masters and bachelor’s degrees, foundation degrees, Higher National Certificates and Diplomas.

The college has over 3,000 HE students and is one of the biggest providers of HE in FE. These students have access to HE-only facilities such as Space.

The college previously offered foundation degrees validated by universities, including Leeds Metropolitan, Northumbria, and Sunderland. In July 2011, Newcastle College was awarded Foundation Degree Awarding Powers. This allows the college to develop and validate its own Foundation Degrees to meet the needs of local employers.^{[citation needed]}

Notable alumni

• Joe McElderry - X-Factor 2009 winner.
• Perrie Edwards of Little Mix.
• Ross Noble
• Michelle Heaton
• Ant and Dec

External links

• Official website