Peterborough College, established in 1946 as Peterborough Technical College, is a major
further education college in
Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
,
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
History
Engineering firms
Peter Brotherhood
Peter Brotherhood (1838–1902) was a British engineer. He invented the Brotherhood engine used for torpedoes as well as many other engineering products.
With his son he built a large engineering business in London bearing his name, Peter Brother ...
and Baker Perkins relocated to Peterborough just after 1900 and, by the 1930s,
British Thomson-Houston (which became
Hotpoint
Hotpoint is a British brand of domestic appliances. Ownership of the brand is split between American company Whirlpool, which has the rights in Europe, and Chinese company Haier, which has the rights in the Americas through its purchase of GE ...
), Newall Engineering and Mitchell Engineering were well established. Peterborough was already an important railway centre providing a great deal of work for the populace, but with all this industry there was no local provision for training.
In 1903, the County Technical School was set up in a small building in Broadway in the city centre with boys studying mathematics, science, technical drawing and some technological subjects. Girls studied a programme for employment in commerce. This was closed in 1926 to save money. Some technical classes did continue but were held as evening classes at
Deacon's Grammar School, other schools and the Broadway building.
With the onset of
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
in 1939, the major engineering firms had to expand to produce munitions and other vital military equipment. The demand for skilled men, and also now for women, escalated but there was nothing in the education or training field to cope with this demand. The industrial expansion continued but it wasn't until 1944, that the
Soke of Peterborough
The Soke of Peterborough is a historic area of England associated with the City and Diocese of Peterborough, but considered part of Northamptonshire. The Soke was also described as the Liberty of Peterborough, or Nassaburgh hundred, and comp ...
Education Committee established Advisory Committees for Engineering and Building and reorganised courses into the Senior Evening Institute of Commercial and Technical Students, Junior Evening Institute and Adult Institute. Classes were held all over the city but, in 1946, temporary premises were erected on land in Garton End Road to provide space for engineering subjects. Pressure from local firms with education and training policies resulted in the Education Committee supporting a plan for Peterborough Technical College, initially at the Garton End Road site.
The separate Adult Education Institute became Peterborough College of Adult Education in 1970, when it moved to its own premises on Brook Street. Since 2010, it has been known as
City College Peterborough
City College Peterborough is an adult and community learning college in the city of Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority ...
.
In 1952, the first instalment of the new, purpose built
Eastfield site opened. In the following years four more building instalments were made and the developments were the result of an almost unique collaboration between the firms of the area, the county council and the Principal and Governors of the College.
In 1987, ''The Tech'' was renamed Peterborough Regional College and in 1993, it became a Corporation under the
Further and Higher Education Act 1992, with new branding and plans to deliver degrees validated by leading universities.
A £120 million development saw the college move into new buildings on the site of its existing campus in 2012.
In 2020, Peterborough Regional College and New College Stamford merged to form the Inspire Education Group. The college was renamed Peterborough College.
Today
Peterborough College currently admits around 3,500 full-time and 12,000 part-time students, encompassing the widest range of courses in the Greater Peterborough area. The first undergraduate programme, offered in conjunction with
De Montfort University
De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was tak ...
, was introduced in 1993.
The College offers a range of qualifications including
GCSEs
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...
,
Ordinary and
Higher National Diploma
Higher National Diploma (HND), part of the Higher Nationals suite of qualifications, is an academic higher education qualification in the United Kingdom and various other countries. They were first introduced in England and Wales in 1920 alongsi ...
s, undergraduate and postgraduate
degrees,
City & Guilds
The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has ...
,
NVQs and professional qualifications. The College also offers courses for international students, including
IELTS
The International English Language Testing System (IELTS ), is an international standardized test of English language proficiency for non-native English language speakers. It is jointly managed by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia a ...
English language proficiency testing.
Computing courses for those trying to get back into employment or wishing to update skills, together with a range of literacy and numeracy classes, were previously run from the Corn Exchange in the city centre. The College now provides similar courses at the City Learning Centre. The Media Centre also moved from Hightrees, adjacent to the main site on Eastfield Road, to purpose-built premises on Broadway with industry standard facilities.
In 2006, Peterborough Regional College began talks with
Anglia Ruskin University
Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public university in East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins are in the Cambridge School of Art, founded by William John Beamont in 1858. It became a university in 1992, and was renamed after John Ruskin in ...
on developing a new university campus for the city. The college and the university then created a new joint venture company to build a new higher education centre. The joint venture company, limited by guarantee, was managed by an equal number of directors from both partner institutions who were responsible for the academic and operational running of the centre.
University Centre Peterborough opened in 2009 and houses most of the
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...
provision previously offered by the college.
The joint venture company was dissolved in 2020, and University Centre Peterborough became a wholly owned subsidiary of Inspire Education Group.
[https://ieg.ac.uk/ Inspire Education Group] Anglia Ruskin University continues to accredit undergraduate degree courses at the Peterborough campus.
Alumni
Notable people educated at Peterborough College include:
*
Mark Noyce
Mark Noyce (born 3 March 1974) is an English actor, writer, film director and producer.
Early life
Noyce was born in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire,Before 1 April 1974 Peterborough was part of Northamptonshire the son of May Doreen (Bayford) and W ...
*
Lionel Kundai Muskwe
*
Stencia Ashley Parewa
See also
*
University Centre Peterborough
*
Stamford College, Lincolnshire
*
City College Peterborough
City College Peterborough is an adult and community learning college in the city of Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority ...
*
Learning and Skills Council
The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) was a non-departmental public body jointly sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) in England. It closed on 31 Marc ...
References
External links
Peterborough CollegeCity College PeterboroughInspire Education Group
{{coord, 52.5868, N, 0.2302, W, type:edu_region:GB, display=title
Education in Peterborough
Buildings and structures in Peterborough
Further education colleges in Cambridgeshire
Educational institutions established in 1946
1946 establishments in England