East Kent College is a

further education college 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. It ...

(although also provides higher education courses) located in Broadstairs,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

on the southeast coast of 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 ...

. The main campus is located on Ramsgate Road, Broadstairs. In September 2011 the college had hoped to move into purpose-built buildings at Millennium Way, Westwood on the outskirts of the town, but due to the LSC building program being overcommitted the planned move never occurred. The college is currently refurbishing existing buildings to provide better facilities for students. In September 2012, Thanet College was renamed to East Kent College.

Campuses

The college has one main campus that has fifteen buildings, that were named after coastal bays in Thanet (such as Minnis, Pegwell, and Kingsgate) but have been renamed after the values of the newly named College (including Enterprise, Inspire, and Achieve). The building located at the front of the site is the exception, known as "Yarrow". The Yarrow building is no longer in use by the College. It was named after shipbuilder Sir

Alfred Yarrow Sir Alfred Fernandez Yarrow, 1st Baronet, (13 January 1842 – 24 January 1932) was a British shipbuilder who started a shipbuilding dynasty, Yarrow Shipbuilders. Origins Yarrow was born of humble origins in East London, the son of Esther ...

, who provided funds for the construction of the building as a children’s convalescent home in 1895. Thanet Technical College took ownership of the site in the 1950s. Over the years, East Kent College has had a number of satellite campuses and currently runs an external construction centre located at Hornet Close in Broadstairs where construction-based vocational courses are delivered, a Business site based at Invicta Way, Manston Business Park, Manston which provides training for employers, also small outreach sites, one based at Mill Lane House in

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

as part of the Community Education programme.

K College takeover

East Kent College took over the Folkestone and Dover campuses of K College on 1 August 2014.

Corporate links

East Kent College has close links with local companies across all 4 campuses. These include companies such as

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

Sandwich A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

, P&O Ferries and Thorley Taverns (pubs, hotels and hospitality), The Port of Dover (various sectors and apprenticeship development, and Leaf Hotels. The college has a dedicated department working closely with local employers and businesses to support the development of skills shortages across the area.

Notable alumni

* Richard Davis (1966-2003), English cricketer who represented Kent, Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Sussex, Leicestershire and Berkshire. *

Gary Rhodes Gary Rhodes (22 April 1960 – 26 November 2019) was an English restaurateur and television chef, known for his love of English cuisine and ingredients and for his distinctive spiked hair style. He fronted shows such as ''MasterChef'', '' Mas ...

(1960-2019), TV chef and restaurateur, met his wife whilst a student at the College in the 1970s.

Notes and references

External links

* {{Coord , 51, 21, 15, N, 1, 26, 6, E, type:edu_region:GB-KEN, display=title Broadstairs Further education colleges in Kent