City of Westminster College is a further education college in the City of Westminster, England, founded originally as Paddington Technical Institute in 1904 and gaining its current name in 1990. The college has two centres in central London, located in

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

and

Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district consisting of the northern part of Paddington in West London, west of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn. It is also the name of its main road, on the continuous Edgware Road. Maida Vale is ...

. It also includes the

Cockpit Theatre The Cockpit was a theatre in London, operating from 1616 to around 1665. It was the first theatre to be located near Drury Lane. After damage in 1617, it was named The Phoenix. History The original building was an actual cockpit; that is, a st ...

, a fully operational studio theatre used for training and performances, and a range of outreach centres. Since 2017 it is legally merged with the

College of North West London The College of North West London (CNWL) is a large further education college in north-west London, England. It was established in 1991 by the merger between Willesden Technical College and Kilburn Polytechnic in the London Borough of Brent. Today ...

(CNWL) although remains publicly distinct; together the United Colleges Group have over 9,000 enrolled students as of 2019, most in young or adult study programmes and some in apprenticeships.

Courses and specialisms

The college offers a broad mix of vocational and academic courses, including BTEC, City & Guilds and NVQ qualifications, GCSEs and A levels. It also provides a smaller range of higher education courses such as Foundation and Bachelor of Science Degrees and HNCs. College specialities include Sport, Digital Media, Construction, Engineering and Science. The college is associate partner of Middlesex University and

University of Westminster The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Polyte ...

. It is also part of Westminster Skillset Media Academy with University of Westminster, providing training in areas such as Sound Engineering and Digital Media. The college is a Founder College of the National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural for its Performing Arts and Technical Theatre training.

Campuses and facilities

City of Westminster College from St Mary's Churchyard

City of Westminster College opened its new Paddington Green Campus in January 2011. The £102m seven-storey building replaces a 1960s construction in the same location. Designed by Danish architects schmidt hammer lassen, Paddington Green Campus has 24,000 square metres of floor space. It includes a large central atrium at the heart of the building, accessible green roof terraces and increased community access to features such as the

Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder sister of Joh ...

Theatre and public cafe overlooking St Mary's Gardens. Other facilities include a double-height Sport England-specification sports hall and specialist science labs and workshops. The campus features a mix of open-plan learning/meeting areas as well as more traditional classrooms. City of Westminster College's Paddington Green Campus was among the winners of the

RIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

Awards for London 2011. It was also among the winners of the inaugural New London Awards.

History

Originally established as Paddington Technical Institute, the college celebrated its centenary in 2004. The original Institute was opened in Saltram Crescent, W9 and early courses focused on vocational subjects such as building, commerce, dressmaking and engineering. Having previously inhabited a series of mostly Victorian buildings, the college moved to a purpose-built eight-storey site on Paddington Green in 1967, also changing its name to Paddington Technical College. Overlooking the Conservation Areas of St Mary's Gardens (a former churchyard) and Paddington Green, the building featured what were then high-specification facilities such as a bespoke vehicle workshop and rolling road. City of Westminster College Paddington Green Campus

City of Westminster College Paddington Green Campus

In 1984, the institution became Paddington College to reflect the increasing variety of courses it offered. When administration of the college passed from the

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corp ...

(ILEA) to

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Cons ...

in 1990, the college adopted its current name. On 1 April 1993, City of Westminster College became self-governing by the nationwide Further and Higher Education Act 1992. City of Westminster College merged with the

on 1 August 2017 to form the United Colleges Group. Nick Bell, former CEO of Prospects - is now the Group Chief Executive Officer. Stephen Davis is the Group Principal of the United Colleges Group. Tony Johnston is Chair of Corporation. In its most recent inspection, Ofsted rated the college as 'requires improvement' for overall effectiveness.

Past Principals

Dr Ryan 1903–1914; Mr Cooke 1914–1929; F. H. Reid 1929–1939; Dr Robinson 1939–1947; A. T. Lindley 1948–1970; A. W. Thompson 1970–1975; S. F. Everiss 1975–1976; Margaret Rawlins 1976–1977; Alan Hutchinson 1977–1987; Janey Rees 1987–1990; Paul Bellamy 1991–2005; Robin Shreeve 2005–2009; Keith Cowell 2009–2018; Jackie Grubb 2018–2019.

Notable alumni

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 51.5208, -0.1728, type:edu_region:GB-WSM, display=title Education in the City of Westminster Further education colleges in London