Richmond upon Thames College is a large

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

further Further or Furthur may refer to: * ''Furthur'' (bus), the Merry Pranksters' psychedelic bus * Further (band), a 1990s American indie rock band * Furthur (band), a band formed in 2009 by Bob Weir and Phil Lesh * ''Further'' (The Chemical Brothers a ...

and

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 completi ...

located on a single site 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 ...

. It provides education and training to 16- to 18-year-olds and adults from across the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

and further afield. The college offers a range of academic and technical vocational qualifications, including

A Levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

, technical vocational qualifications, higher education courses and apprenticeships.

History

The college was formed in 1977 by a merger of the

sixth form college A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate Di ...

s from

Shene School Richmond Park Academy is a secondary school with an academy status in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The school is part of the Academies Enterprise Trust academy chain. Richmond Park Academy was formed in 2010 when academy statu ...

and Thames Valley School with the former Twickenham College of Technology on its site. It was the first tertiary college established in Greater London. A merger with

Richmond Adult & Community College Richmond and Hillcroft Adult Community College is a further education college located in Richmond and Surbiton in Greater London. It was established in 2017 by a merger between Richmond Adult Community College and the specialist Hillcroft Colleg ...

was proposed in 2003 but did not happen. In November 2020, Richmond upon Thames College announced a proposed merger with Harrow College &

Uxbridge College Uxbridge College is a large general further education college in the London Borough of Hillingdon. Since 2017 the college has been merged with Harrow College, although it retains its individual identity. It has two campuses, in Uxbridge and in Hay ...

(HCUC) that could be completed for autumn 2021 pending confirmation. An £80 million redevelopment of the 22-acre campus kicked off in 2018. The first phase of the new campus was completed in spring 2020, and further new parts were scheduled to be opened in 2021 and 2022.

Location

The college is situated in

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

, a third of a mile from the English

national rugby stadium The Narodowy Stadion Rugby ( en, National Rugby Stadium) is multi-purpose stadium in Gdynia, Poland. It is currently used for rugby union (RC Arka Gdynia and the Poland national team) and also for american football games (the Seahawks Gdynia). ...

. The nearest railway station is

and the nearest

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

connections are

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 Hounslow Central. It is also served by

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

routes, notably the 281 between Tolworth and

and the 267 between Fulwell and

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

External inspections

The college received a "good" rating in all areas from

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

in its November 2017 report.

Notable alumni

* Caroline Flint (born 1961), Labour Party politician who served as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Don Valley from

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. *

Fionn Whitehead Fionn Whitehead (; born 18 July 1997) is an English actor. He portrayed the lead role in the 2017 film '' Dunkirk'' and the 2018 film '' Black Mirror: Bandersnatch''. His first acting credit was in the 2016 ITV miniseries '' Him''. Life Whitehe ...

(born 1997), actor. * David Orobosa Omoregie (born 1998), musician. *

Alan Mehdizadeh Alan Mehdizadeh ( fa, الان مهدیزاده; born 4 September 1982) is a British-Iranian actor, appearing on stage and screen. He has recently played the role of Monk in Graham Moore's '' The Outfit''. He played the role of Don in the West ...

(born 1982), stage and screen actor. *

James Cripps James Cripps is an artist and musician from Kensal Rise, London. He studied at Richmond upon Thames College. His 2009 art exhibition was with other young artists who went by the group name of 'Anklebiter'. The show received with acclaim, the cent ...

, musician and artist

Notes

{{Authority control 1977 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1977 Education in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Further education colleges in London Twickenham