Stockport College

Stockport College

Established	January 2006 (Merger)
Type	Further Education and Higher Education
Principal	Lynn Merilion
Location	Stockport Greater Manchester England, United Kingdom
Local authority	Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
Gender	Mixed
Campuses	Stockport (Town Centre Campus) Heaton Moor, Stockport (Heaton Moor Campus)
Website	www.stockport.ac.uk

Stockport College is a large educational institute providing further education and Higher Education to those age over 15. It has a well-established history and plays a major role in providing educational opportunities for the community including school leavers, businesses and overseas students.

The college has academic and vocational courses from pre-GCSE to degree level. It is a major provider of post 16 education and training in Stockport and a key regional and national centre for a range of specialist courses.

The college merged with North Area College on 1 January 2006. At this time Stockport college was a struggling business and the integration of North Area was seen as a financial lifeline for Stockport college. The merged operation is a £30million business across two sites although it is intended the sell of the land acquired from North Area College as the merger was only ever intended to boost Stockport college's finances. it was also renamed Stockport College at the same time as a result of the merger, being formerly known as Stockport College of Further and Higher Education. They are also about to embark on a £100 million property redevelopment at the town centre campus and has recently acquired the former St Thomas Hospital, due for completion in 2011. The project was recently given the go ahead by the Learning and Skills Council, with building work on phase 1, consisting of new construction engineering workshops due for completion in 2010 having commenced in Spring 2008, work on phase 2, which will form the bulk of the project including a new college hub is expected to start in 2009.

Town centre campus

The town centre campus is the original site of Stockport College of Further and Higher Education 53°24′16″N 2°09′31″W and much of the campus dates back to the 1960s. The complete redevelopment of this site and some surrounding buildings is due for completion in 2011 to create a flagship educational campus for the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. The total project value is estimated at around £100m from various sources. It will also include the closure and selling off of the Heaton Moor Campus, 53°25′44″N 2°11′02″W inherited from the merger with North Area College in 2006. The preparation work began in late 2007 with the acquisition of the Old St Thomas' Hospital53°24′08″N 2°09′36″W on Shaw Heath and neighbouring properties.

Heaton Moor campus

The Heaton Moor campus was the former North Area College before it merged with Stockport in 2006, it is a former secondary school and contains courses such as plastering and other vocational subjects. Signage for Stockport College Heaton Moor Campus was erected after the merger, but it is due to be sold off for development to fund the property development at Town centre campus with the new flagship campus making the college single site. The site is now closed.

Notable people

Andrew L.P. Ellis - Star of 'This Is England' and 'The Royal' is currently studying for a diploma in ND Media

External links

• Stockport College web site