Richmond and Hillcroft Adult Community College is a

further education Further education (often abbreviated FE) in the United Kingdom and Ireland is education in addition to that received at secondary school, that is distinct from the higher education (HE) offered in universities and other academic institutions. I ...

college located in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

and

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has ...

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. It was established in 2017 by a merger between Richmond Adult Community College and the specialist Hillcroft College.

History

The college's Richmond campus traces its roots to the 19th century as a technical institute. In the latter part of the 19th century, there was no reasonable secondary education in

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People * Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom *Barnes, London, England **Barnes railway station ** Barnes Bridge railway station ** Barnes Railway Bri ...

and

for miles around, except for those who could afford private tuition or send their children many miles to school. In the most populous areas of

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, (e.g.

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

and Richmond) parents were for the most part obliged to be content to give their children an elementary education.

Richmond County Richmond County may refer to places: Australia *Richmond County, New South Wales, a cadastral division Canada *Richmond County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Richmondshire, the original Richmond County in Yorkshire, England United States ...

was to be one of a series of new technical buildings erected or being erected by the county council in the seven principal towns of the county. The site was opened on 2 July 1895 on land in Kew Road, Richmond and was fee paying. The buildings occupied a prominent site on the Kew Road at the corner of Selwyn Avenue. This building housed both the Technical Institute and secondary school. When the school merged with Sheen Grammar School in 1939 the school moved out of the Kew Road premises leaving the Technical Institute as sole occupants of the Kew Road site. The technical institute continued up to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when it was put on a war-time basis and used as an ARP (Air Raid Precautions) and ambulance depot. It was revived as the Technical Institute and School of Art for Richmond and Barnes in 1947 and in 1954 renamed as the Richmond Institute of Further Education. In 1970 it became the Richmond Adult College and in 1978 transferred to the Parkshot site, vacant with the closure of

Richmond County School for Girls Richmond County School for Girls (sometimes referred to as ''Richmond Grammar School for Girls'') was a school at Richmond in London that was once noted for having cricket in its curriculum; which resulted in the emergence from the school of a n ...

and as the Richmond Adult & Community College remains at that site. The college also previously occupied The Clifden Centre in

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

, the campus of the former Twickenham County Grammar School for Girls (which became the comprehensive Twickenham Girls' School). The college relocated from the Clifden Centre to the main college campus in September 2014, making way for St Richard Reynolds Catholic College. The college's site in Surbiton was previously Hillcroft College, a residential adult education college for women. Originally called The National Residential College for Women, the college was established in 1920, and has always been a residential college solely for the education of adult women. The college was intended to be a female equivalent to

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. In this regard, Hillcroft College was unique in the British further education sector. The college was owned and operated by the Hillcroft Charitable Trust. The college's joint founder, and first principal (1929–1933) was

Fanny Street Fanny Street (21 November 1877, Wilton, Wiltshire - 20 March 1962, Hindhead, Surrey) was Acting Principal of Royal Holloway College, University of London (RHC) in 1944-1945. Her brother was Arthur George Street author of ''Farmer's Glory''. Edu ...

. Street was acting principal of

Royal Holloway College Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

(RHC), University of London, from 1944 to 1945 when

Edith Clara Batho Dr Edith Clara Batho (21 September 1895 – 21 January 1986) was Principal of Royal Holloway College, University of London (RHC) from 1945 to 1962. Education She was educated at Highbury Hill High School, now Highbury Fields School in Isling ...

took over. In September 2017, Richmond Adult Community College and Hillcroft College merged to form Richmond and Hillcroft Adult Community College.

Location

The college's Richmond campus is situated on Twickenham Road (

A316 The A316, known in parts as the Great Chertsey Road, is a major road in England, which runs from the A315 Chiswick High Road, Turnham Green, Chiswick to join head-on the M3 motorway at Sunbury-on-Thames. Its initial London section Chiswick L ...

) just west of the Richmond Circus roundabout with the

A307 The A307 road runs through SW London and NW Surrey. It is primary at the north-east end; the remainder is non-primary, generally superseded in the mid-twentieth century in two stages by newer alignments of the Portsmouth Road, the Kingston byp ...

. It is opposite the

Old Deer Park Old Deer Park is an area of open space within Richmond, London, Richmond, owned by the Crown Estate, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. It covers of which are leased as sports grounds for sports, particularly rugby and ...

, and just north of

Richmond tube station Richmond, also known as Richmond (London), is a National Rail station in Richmond, London, Richmond, Greater London on the Waterloo to Reading Line, Waterloo to Reading and North London Line, North London Lines. South Western Railway (train oper ...

. The Hillcroft campus is at South Bank, Surbiton.

Courses

The college offers a range of courses including

GCSE 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 ...

NVQ National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are practical work-based awards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that are achieved through assessment and training. The regulatory framework supporting NVQs was withdrawn in 2015 and replaced by the ...

s and

Access course The Access to Higher Education (HE) Diploma is a U.K. qualification which prepares students — usually 19+ — for study as an undergraduate at university. The diploma is designed for people who would like to study in higher education but who le ...

s. In addition, the college offers some higher education courses in conjunction with the

University of Westminster , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

References

External links

Official website: Richmond campus

Official website: Hillcroft campus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richmond and Hillcroft Adult Community College 1895 establishments in England Adult education in the United Kingdom Education in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Education in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Educational institutions established in 1895 Former women's universities and colleges in the United Kingdom Further education colleges in London Grade II listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Richmond, London Surbiton