Edinburgh College is a
further
Further or furthur, alternatively farther, may refer to:
* ''Furthur'' (bus), the Merry Pranksters' psychedelic bus
*Further (band), a 1990s American indie rock band
*Furthur (band)
Furthur was an American rock band founded in 2009 by former G ...
and
higher education
Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education.
The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...
institution with
campus
A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls.
By extension, a corp ...
es in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
and
Midlothian
Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...
,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. It serves the Edinburgh Region, Edinburgh, East Lothian and Midlothian, and is the largest college in Scotland.
It was formed on 1 October 2012 as part of the merger of Edinburgh's
Jewel and Esk,
Telford
Telford () is a town in the Telford and Wrekin borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Shropshire, England. The wider borough covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. The town is close to the county's eastern b ...
, and
Stevenson
Stevenson is an English language patronymic surname meaning "son of Steven". Its first historical record is from pre-10th-century England. Another origin of the name is as a toponymic surname related to the place Stevenstone in Devon, England. The ...
colleges.
The college has four campuses, all of which were previously the campuses of the constituents of the merger: Jewel and Esk's College Milton Road (Jewel) Campus and Eskbank Campus (Now referred to as "Edinburgh College, Milton Road Campus" and "Edinburgh College, Midlothian Campus"); Edinburgh Telford College (Now referred to as Edinburgh College, Granton Campus); and Stevenson College Edinburgh (Now referred to as Edinburgh College, Sighthill Campus)
Formation
On 17 April 2012, Edinburgh's Jewel and Esk, Telford, and Stevenson colleges collectively submitted to the
Scottish Government
The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...
a business case for their merger into a single "Edinburgh" college.
The case estimated that the merger would come at a cost of
£14.7 million, of which £7.7 million would be provided by the
Scottish Funding Council
The Scottish Funding Council (Scottish Gaelic: '; SFC), formally the Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council, is the non-departmental public body charged with funding Scotland's further and higher education institutions, inclu ...
.
The case proposed job reductions across the periods 2012/13 to 2014/15, forecast to eventually provide savings of £9.47 million per year at a cost of 237 jobs. The jobs cut were 60% (49 jobs, £2.88 million) from managerial staff, 17.5% (96 jobs, £3.84 million) from teaching staff, and 17.5% (92 jobs, £2.75 million) from non-teaching staff.
Severance costs as a result of job reductions were forecast at £10.47 million.
The case predicted that the merged colleges would have deficits of £0.47 million, £1.5 million, and £3.74 million in periods 2011/12, 2012/13, and 2013/14, respectively, before having a surplus of £0.44 million per period in the following three periods from 2014/15 to 2016/17.
The merger was approved by the
Scottish Ministers
The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in t ...
, and came into force on 1 October 2012.
The predicted income for period 2014/15 was not attained, and Edinburgh College reported a deficit of £5.14 million for that period.
The income for 2016/17 was £3.0 million (including an actuarial gain on pension of £5.5 million).
Funding
Edinburgh College is a primarily
publicly funded college. Of the college's £91 million income for the period 2014/15, £68.35 million (75.1%) came from Scottish Funding Council (SFC) grants, £14.52 million came from
tuition fee
Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...
s, and the remainder came from a mixture of contracts,
endowments, and national and
EU grants.
In 2010, the
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; ) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible fo ...
(ONS) reclassified, effective 1 April 2014,
Colleges of Further Education in Scotland as central government entities, making them
public bodies
A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, but they are corporations owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...
.
This change meant that the SFC could
claw back
A claw is a curved, pointed appendage found at the end of a toe or finger in most amniotes (mammals, reptiles, birds). Some invertebrates such as beetles and spiders have somewhat similar fine, hooked structures at the end of the leg or Arthro ...
funds and, as a result, that colleges would be unable to hold large cash reserves.
Following a
Holyrood report placing Edinburgh College behind the
City of Glasgow College
The City of Glasgow College is a further and higher education college in the city of Glasgow. It was founded in 2010 when the Central College, Glasgow Metropolitan College, and the Glasgow College of Nautical Studies merged. It is the largest ...
in reforms, college principal Annette Bruton expressed discontent with this consequence of reclassification.

Edinburgh College is responsible for the funding of its
students' association
A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizatio ...
,
ECSA.
In 2014, the college's Board of Management provided ECSA with funds of £274,677.
Curriculum Centres
Each of the courses offered by Edinburgh College falls under the remit of one of five curriculum centres. The centres are typically based at one to three of the college's campuses, and provide course-specific facilities. Courses are offered at
SCQF levels 1 (National 1, formerly Access 1, units for early
secondary education
Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education.
Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...
) through 11 (
under- and
postgraduate
Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...
education and professional
apprenticeship
Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...
s).
Creative Industries
The ''Creative Industries'' centre is based at the Milton Road and Sighthill campuses. The centre's facilities include film and music studios and
auditoria
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...
. The centre partners with Creative Exchange Leith, an organisation providing
incubation and office space rental, and funds the use of the Exchange's facilities by six student
entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones.
An entreprene ...
s each year.
The Creative Industries centre offers courses in art and design (
graphic
Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of the data, as in design and manufa ...
,
interior, and
interactive design
Interactive design is a user-oriented field of study that focuses on meaningful communication using media to create products through cyclical and collaborative processes between people and technology. Successful interactive designs have simple, cle ...
), the
performing art
The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Pe ...
s,
broadcasting
Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...
,
photography
Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...
,
sound engineering,
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
and
software development
Software development is the process of designing and Implementation, implementing a software solution to Computer user satisfaction, satisfy a User (computing), user. The process is more encompassing than Computer programming, programming, wri ...
, as well as various vendor qualifications such as
Cisco
Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, s ...
CCNA
CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) is an entry-level information technology (IT) certification offered by Cisco Systems. CCNA certification is widely recognized in the IT industry as the foundational step for careers in IT positions and netw ...
and
CompTIA A+ certifications.
Engineering+
The ''Engineering+'' centre is based at the college's Midlothian campus in Eskbank, near
Dalkeith
Dalkeith ( ; , ) is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1541. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-century castle (now Dalkeith Pala ...
. The centre has a fleet of
electric vehicle
An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...
s and charging points for those vehicles. Its facilities include various workshops and laboratories, and a field of 2,500
solar panel
A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...
s built by
SSE which generates energy for the campus and which is used as an instructional aid.
The centre also partners with MacTaggart Scott, a civil and defence engineering company, to provide training using an
oil platform
An oil platform (also called an oil rig, offshore platform, oil production platform, etc.) is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platforms w ...
simulator and
PLC laboratory.
The centre offers introductory engineering courses,
welding
Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, primarily by using high temperature to melting, melt the parts together and allow them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Co ...
courses,
vehicle maintenance courses, as well as courses for qualifications in
petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...
,
mechanical
Mechanical may refer to:
Machine
* Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement
* Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...
,
control,
energy
Energy () is the physical quantity, quantitative physical property, property that is transferred to a physical body, body or to a physical system, recognizable in the performance of Work (thermodynamics), work and in the form of heat and l ...
,
electrical
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...
and
electronic, and
automotive engineering, plus courses in
biology
Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
,
chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
,
physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
, and
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
, a
BESA-designed
HVAC
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC ) is the use of various technologies to control the temperature, humidity, and purity of the air in an enclosed space. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. ...
course, and various
City and Guilds
The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has bee ...
qualifications.
Health, Wellbeing and Social Sciences
The centre for ''Health, Wellbeing and Social Sciences'' is based at the Milton Road and Sighthill campuses. The Milton Road campus is equipped with a
gym
A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...
and
spa
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...
(called "the Club"), and the Sighthill campus has a gym and sports centre.
The centre provides various courses for improving the fitness and health of the participants, as well as courses for qualifications in
early childhood education
Early childhood education (ECE), also known as nursery education, is a branch of Education sciences, education theory that relates to the teaching of children (formally and informally) from birth up to the age of eight. Traditionally, this is ...
,
sports coaching,
personal training,
sports therapy
Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...
,
nursing
Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...
,
social care
Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...
,
dentistry
Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the Human tooth, teeth, gums, and Human mouth, mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, dis ...
,
pharmacy
Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...
,
veterinary nursing, and
social science
Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...
.
Institute of Construction and Building Crafts
The ''Institute of Construction and Building Crafts'' provides instruction in various
construction
Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...
and
trade skills. The institute is partnered with various companies and
local authorities
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state.
Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...
to provide apprenticeship training, including the
CITB; the Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbers' Association; and Building Engineering Services Training, a
subsidiary
A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...
of BESA.
The institute's facilities include the ''Immersive and Controlled Training Environment'' (ICE), a
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...
construction site simulator jointly developed by the college and
Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University () is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by roya ...
.
The institute is based at the college's Granton campus.
The institute's courses include
carpentry
Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. C ...
,
joiner
Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes (such as laminate), to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, ...
y,
painting and decorating
A house painter and decorator is a tradesperson responsible for the painting and decorating of buildings, and is also known as a decorator, or house painter.''The Modern Painter and Decorator'' volume 1 1921 Caxton The purpose of painting is t ...
,
bricklaying
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and Mortar (masonry), mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''Course (architecture), courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall.
Bricks ...
,
plastering
Plasterwork is construction or ornamentation done with plaster, such as a layer of plaster on an interior or exterior wall structure, or plaster Molding (decorative), decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. This is also sometimes called parge ...
,
highway maintenance, roofing,
stonemasonry
Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using rock (geology), stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with Mortar (masonry), mortar ...
,
civil engineering
Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...
,
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
,
building surveying, as well as various industry accreditations including City and Guilds
railway engineering;
Gas Safe CCN1 (Core Domestic Natural Gas Safety), CKR1 (Domestic Cooking Appliances), HTR1 (Heating Appliances), and MET1 (
Gas Meter
A gas meter is a specialized flow meter, used to measure the volume of fuel gases such as natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas. Gas meters are used at residential, commercial, and industrial buildings that consume fuel gas supplied by a g ...
Safety Assessment) qualifications; CENWAT (Central Heating and Hot Water) installation and maintenance training; CITB Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) training; various International Powered Access Federation qualifications; National Plant Operators Registration Scheme (NPORS) qualifications; and Prefabricated Access Suppliers' and Manufacturers' Association (PASMA) qualifications.
In 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, the term "institute" is protected and cannot be used without the approval of the Secretary of State.
Hospitality, Travel and Tourism
The ''Hospitality, Travel and Tourism'' centre is based at the college's Milton Road and Granton campuses. It is part of the South East Scotland Academies Partnership's (SESAP) Hospitality and Tourism Academy, along with
Queen Margaret University
Queen Margaret University is a public university located wholly within the county of East Lothian on the outskirts of Musselburgh, Scotland. It is named after the Scottish Queen Saint Margaret (1045–1093).
The university can trace its ...
,
West Lothian College, and
Borders College.
The centre's facilities include two training restaurants, the
EH15 at Milton Road and the Apprentice at Granton,
three training salons, two at Granton and one at Milton Road, and an aircraft cabin simulator.
One of the salons is a component of a partnership with
beauty product companies Elemis and
Wella
Wella Aktiengesellschaft, AG is a German company specializing in hair care, Hair styling, styling, colorants, and other beauty products, and was founded in 1880 in Germany by Franz Ströher. Its headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany. The company w ...
.
Students on the courses offered by the centre work in the restaurants and salons as part of their study.
The centre's courses include
barbering
A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a barbershop or the barber's. Barbershops have been noted places of social interaction and public discourse ...
and
hairdressing
A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A hairdresser may also be r ...
,
beauty therapy,
cheffing,
events
Event may refer to:
Gatherings of people
* Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion
* Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest
* Event management, the organization of eve ...
and
retail management
A retail manager (or store manager) is the person ultimately responsible for the day-to-day operations (or management) of a retail store. All employees working in the store report to the retail/store manager. A store manager reports to a distric ...
, various language courses including
Gaelic
Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to:
Languages
* Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...
and Gaelic history,
French,
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
,
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
, and
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
, plus industry qualifications including
Chartered Institute of Linguists
Founded as the ''Institute of Linguists'' in 1910, the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) received its royal charter in 2005, and is the UK's not-for-profit royal charter body for languages and linguists.
CIOL supports linguists in their ...
public service
language interpretation
Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...
, UK
food hygiene certifications, and
Prince's Trust
The King's Trust (formerly the Prince's Trust) is a United Kingdom-based charity founded in 1976 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are unempl ...
introductory cookery courses.
Honours
Queen's Park Shield
*Champions (1): 2019
References
{{Authority control
Further education colleges in Edinburgh
2012 establishments in Scotland
Universities and colleges established in 2012
Higher education in Scotland