Wigan & Leigh College is a state General Further and Higher Education College based at five locations in the towns of

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

and

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Currently, there are 500 staff members employed, and more than 8,000 students enrolled in full-time or part-time courses. The college's programmes of study include:

General Certificate of Education The General Certificate of Education (GCE) is a subject-specific family of academic qualifications used in awarding bodies in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Crown dependencies and a few Commonwealth countries. For some time, the Scottish ed ...

(GCSEs),

BTEC First Diploma The BTEC First Diploma is a vocational qualification taken in England and Wales and Northern Ireland by young people aged 14 and over and by adults. The qualification is organised and awarded by the Edexcel Foundation within the BTEC brand. Quali ...

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 ...

, National Diplomas,

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, Apprenticeships, Foundation Degree and Degree courses. The foundations of Wigan & Leigh College date back to 1857, and the current institution was formed in April 1992 through the merger of Wigan College of Technology and Leigh College. Both have a long-standing history of providing high quality academic technical and vocational education. Wigan & Leigh College has four Centers of Excellence in Sport, Creative Arts, Engineering and Health and Social Care.

History

Wigan College of Technology

In 1857 the suggestion of opening a mining college in Wigan was made by the prominent mine-owner

Edward Cardwell, 1st Viscount Cardwell Edward Cardwell, 1st Viscount Cardwell, (24 July 1813 – 15 February 1886) was a prominent British politician in the Peelite and Liberal parties during the middle of the 19th century. He is best remembered for his tenure as Secretary of Stat ...

to the trustees of the Wigan Blue Coat National School, and Wigan Mining and Technical College was formed that year. When classes started on 2 August 1858, there were fifty enrolled students in the subjects of mining, geology and chemistry. By 1875, the college had grown to hold 130 students. However, it was still peripatetic, with no fixed location and was based in other local venues such as the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, the Conservative Club and Wigan Grammar School, until 1882 when its first college building was erected. By the turn of the century, it was regarded as one of the foremost mining colleges in the country. In 1903, after raising £50,000, the college moved a new ornate campus building, which was used for much of the 20th century (now used as

Wigan Town Hall The new Town Hall is a former technical college in Library Street, Wigan, England which was converted into a municipal facility in 1990. It is a Grade II listed building. History The building, which was designed by Briggs and Wolstenholme in th ...

). In 1946, the college first started offering higher-education programmes, originally accredited by the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. By 1956, the college had awarded 500 degree certificates, mainly in mining and engineering. Throughout the years, it offered a growing range of courses and was later renamed Wigan College of Technology in 1972. During the 1970s it had around 10,000 full-time and part-time students.

Leigh College

Leigh college was founded as Leigh Technical School in 1894, and was opened on 26 September by

Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, (15 January 1841 – 14 June 1908) styled as Hon. Frederick Stanley from 1844 to 1886 and as The Lord Stanley of Preston between 1886 and 1893, was a Conservative Party politician in the United Ki ...

. The new red-brick building, built in the

English Renaissance The English Renaissance was a Cultural movement, cultural and Art movement, artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginni ...

style, cost £23,000 and also included a

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

and a "chemical theatre and laboratory" on the upper floor. It was granted technical college status in 1926.

Wigan & Leigh College

Both Wigan and Leigh colleges eventually became

tertiary college In England and Wales, a tertiary college is a type of further education (FE) college that offers both academic and vocational courses to both youngsters and adults, combining the main functions of an FE college and a sixth form college. Unlike a si ...

s. The current institution was formed after the

Further and Higher Education Act 1992 The Further and Higher Education Act 1992 made changes in the funding and administration of further education and higher education within England and Wales, with consequential effects on associated matters in Scotland which had previously been ...

when Wigan and Leigh colleges merged. In 2017, Wigan & Leigh College was awarded "University Centre" status, allowing students to achieve a higher education accredited by the

University of Central Lancashire , mottoeng = "From the Earth to the Sun" , established = as Institution for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledgere-established 1992 (University status granted) , type = Public , chancellor ...

from the college. In 2018, Wigan & Leigh College won FE College of the Year (North West Educate Awards).

Northwest campuses

*Leigh **Leigh College – *Wigan **Pagefield Campus – **Parsons Walk – **Wigan School for the Arts (WSA) -

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Education in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Educational institutions established in 1992 Former schools and colleges of mining Buildings and structures in Leigh, Greater Manchester 1992 establishments in England