St John Rigby College (abbreviated as St.JR, SJR or simply John Rigby) is a

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

college in the Orrell district of the

Metropolitan Borough of Wigan The Metropolitan Borough of Wigan is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, in North West England. It is named after the main settlement of Wigan. It covers the towns of Atherton, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Golborne, Hindley, Ince-in-Mak ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

situated in a estate. As a college for students who intend to proceed into

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 ...

, students are accepted from across the

and

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areas of

as well as parts of

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wi ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

. The school's A Level pass rate was 98% in 2009, well above the national average, as are its vocational courses at Levels 1, 2 and 3. Students go on to attend a wide range of universities across the UK and abroad. The college also works to promote

Fairtrade A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa, As ...

and forming partnerships with people in other countries such as

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

which is part of the work the college does with

CAFOD The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) is an international development charity and the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It aims to tackle poverty globally. Through local Catholic Church and secular pa ...

, and also forming partnerships with other colleges with

Loreto College, Manchester Loreto College is a Roman Catholic sixth form college in Hulme, Manchester, England, based on the educational philosophy of Mary Ward (nun), Mary Ward, a 16th-century nun, who founded the Sisters of Loreto, Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, ...

History

Originally a Christian Brothers boys' grammar school, and was named Blessed John Rigby RC Grammar School. John Rigby only being Beatified, not yet Canonized. In 1972 the school became a Sixth Form College under the

trusteeship Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool. In 2012 the college celebrated its 40th Anniversary.

Saint John Rigby

St John Rigby College was named after the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

John Rigby, who was executed during the reign of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

. He is one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

Admittance to the college

Enrollment

Prior to the year of entry, application forms are distributed to High Schools in different areas, students who are looking to enroll at the college may attend an open evening. All students who accept a position to study at St. John Rigby College are invited to attend a New Students' Day in June. Dependent upon the route taken will depend on the points necessary to guarantee a place in the college, (Route A) 40 Points, (Route B) 35 Points (Route C) 25 Points, (Route D) 15 Points. These will be calculated from the best 8 GCSEs which may be any or specific GCSEs that may be required to be included in the best 8 at a certain grade. (See below for points table):

Acceptance

If accepted, students can choose at what level they wish to study from. This consists of 5 levels: *Entry Level - Entry Level *Level 1 (Introductory Level) - NVQ Level 1, BTEC Introductory Award *Level 2 (Intermediate Level) - NVQ Level 2, BTEC First Diploma, GCSE *Level 3 (Advanced Level) - NVQ Level 3, BTEC National, AS and A Level *Level 3 (Degrees) - NVQ Level 4, BTEC Higher National, Foundational Degrees As well as completing chosen courses, students are also required to study 'Values for living' and are also required to take on 'extended studies'. This can be a course completely different from the courses students have chosen to take (e.g., School Production, Driving Theory, First Aid). The majority of students who are enrolled at the college are aged 16–18 and are on Level 3 programs full-time. From here they then proceed to a range of universities across the UK.

Campus

The college is large consisting of 6 blocks and is situated on a single campus 3.5 miles west of

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the 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 north-east and Warrington t ...

on Gathurst Road, Orrell, near the birthplace of the man for whom the school was named (St John Rigby) and has one of its buildings named after his birthplace, the building being named Harrock House. In February 2006 the College opened its new Learning Resource Centre (LRC) which offers a wide range of services and support to students.

Sports facilities

The College boasts the largest all weather football pitch in the country and has extensive playing fields surrounding the campus. The Sports Hall has facilities for a wide range of sports, a fitness suite, as well as being used by students, the pitch is also used by others outside the college (e.g.

Wigan Athletic F.C. Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

have used the pitch in the past for practice).

College Chapel

As a Roman Catholic school, students can visit the newly built College Chapel, which is available at any time of the day as a place of prayer, reflection or quietness. The college Chaplaincy team currently runs a

store which is open to all students and staff.

SJR Community Team

The college is currently building up a community team involving a large number of students getting involved with open days, college events such as Rigfest (a night when student bands play their music) and getting involved with tea and coffee mornings and working with the chaplaincy team with other events.

The Learning Resource Centre (LRC)

The college Learning Resource Centre offers a wide range of service and support to students such as over 11,000 books in stock, DVDs and online resources.

Open Learning Centre (OLC)

In the Open Learning Centre, Students have access to over 96 network connected computers to aid them in their learning, with Computer Technicians available to help with any problems any time of the day.

Pearson Teaching Awards

In 2012,

Physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

lecturer and head of department, Mr. John Ireland, was awarded the ''"Further Education Teacher of the Year Award in the North"''http://www.bee-it.co.uk/documents/Pearson%20Teaching%20Awards%20Regional%20Winners%202012.pdf in the Teaching Awards. He was awarded due to numerous nominations by students past and present, as a thank you for his 32 years of passionate teaching to students in sport, which has led to some of the most great successes, including students going on to play for top teams such as '

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Northern Rugby Football Union followin ...

Student Council

The college considers the student council to be a very important asset as it gives students the opportunity to have their say in which they think the quality of college life can be improved and also into any future plans the college intends to make. The student Council is a governing body who are representatives of the students and on their behalf put forward any suggestions of improvement that any students think should be considered as well as organising college events. The college is currently focusing on building up a council team in partnership with Loreto College in Manchester and always encourages its students to be involved.

Notable alumni

Vincent Nichols Vincent Gerard Nichols (born 8 November 1945) is an English cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He previously served as Archbishop of Birmin ...

, Archbishop of Westminster, former Chaplain *

Iain Coyle Iain Coyle (born 9 January 1968 in Burscough, Lancashire) is a British TV presenter and producer and comedian. He was educated at St Bede's RC Comprehensive, St John Rigby College, Wigan, and Sheffield Polytechnic where he studied Fine Art. Br ...

TV presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garner ...

TV producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon a ...

and stand-up comedian * Jon Culshaw, impressionist and comedian *

Shaun Edwards Shaun Edwards, OBE (born 17 October 1966) is an English rugby union coach and former rugby league player, who is the defence coach for the France national team. A or , Edwards is the most decorated player in rugby league history, with 37 wi ...

, Rugby League International/Welsh Union coach * Mark Edwardson,

BBC North West Tonight ''BBC North West Tonight'' is the BBC's regional television news programme covering North West England and the Isle of Man. Produced by BBC North West, the programme airs at 1.30pm (as ''North West Today''), 6.30pm and 10.30pm, with shorter b ...

TV news presenter *

Eva Pope Eva Rebecca Pope (born 16 November 1967) is an English actress, best known for her portrayal of longest-serving headmistress Rachel Mason in '' Waterloo Road'', and appearances in '' Coronation Street'', ''Dream Team'', '' Baby Boys'' and ''He ...

Actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

('' Waterloo Road'') *

Vernon Kay Vernon Charles Kay (born 28 April 1974) is an English television and radio presenter, and former model. He presented Channel 4's ''T4'' (2000–2005) and has presented various television shows for ITV, including '' All Star Family Fortunes'' ...

, DJ and former

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

* Joe Lydon, Rugby League International *

Stuart Maconie Stuart Maconie (born 13 August 1961) is an English radio DJ and television presenter, writer, journalist, and critic working in the field of pop music and popular culture. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 6 Music where, alongside Mark ...

, BBC Radio 2 DJ/

* Luke Marsden, '' Big Brother 2008 (UK)'' * Paul Rowley,

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...