Bradford College

HE provision

Bradford College is one of the FE Colleges with the largest HE provision in England with approximately 170 full and part-time HE courses to choose from. From September 2013, the college's degree courses will be validated by Teesside University; at present they are validated by Leeds Metropolitan University and previously they were validated by the University of Bradford with the final cohort graduating in December 2007. Bradford College has started the process of applying for university status and award their own degrees back in 2009 but was informed in March 2012 by the QAA that the application was not successful. This decision forced the college to look for alternative validation providers. The course offer for September 2012 entry included two computing courses validated by the University of London, two engineering top-up degrees in engineering and a Higher Apprenticeship in Sustainable Built Environment validated by the Teesside University and further courses are now being offered for September 2013 entry exclusively validated by the latter institution:

"Continuing studies into Higher Education is a huge decision and this agreement will enable our students to continue to benefit from courses which have a vocational and professional emphasis delivered in a friendly and supportive environment. In addition, we look forward to developing the partnership to undertake joint research and staff development.

Teesside University has a long history of working closely with Further Education partners in the North East and the partnership with Bradford College is the start of a new era."

The move to Teesside University was a direct result of Leeds Metropolitan University's withdrawal from all of its partnerships with colleges except for foundation degrees.

History

In 1832 the Bradford Mechanics Institute was founded. In 1863 the institute had grown to accommodate full-time staff and had its own School of Industrial Design and Art. In 1872 the Bradford MP William Edward Forster opened new buildings in Bridge Street.

On 23 June 1882, the then Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) came to open the new School. They were given a very warm welcome: "From Saltaire Station to the Technical School, a distance of four miles, was one continuous avenue of Venetian masts, streamers, and many coloured banners, while at appropriate points triumphal arches of great magnificence were erected."

In 1982 the institution was named Bradford and Ilkley Community College, after a merger with Ilkley College, giving the combined college a small satellite campus in the nearby town of Ilkley, north-east of Bradford. This was closed in 1999 and soon after the institution became Bradford College.

In 2002 a merger between the college and the University of Bradford was proposed; this was pursued until the summer of 2003, when the two institutions issued a joint statement calling off the merger. Beginning in 2006 the college underwent a re-brand and unveiled its current logo. A community learning centre, named The Three Valleys Centre, was opened in nearby Keighley in 2007 which hosts a hairdressing and beauty salon (also operating on a commercial basis), as well as I.T and a range of language courses.

As part of the college's 175-year celebration, it published a list of 175 'heroes' – famous alumni of the college. This list includes ex-students such as Edward Appleton, Tasmin Archer, David Berglas, Alex Corina, Bob Hardy, David Hockney and Joyce Gould. The full list can be viewed at [1].

Trinity Green, which houses a new sports centre and teaching facilities for construction and engineering students, was opened in September 2008; this is housed in a new purpose-built building on the site of MacMillan Halls of Residence which were demolished in 2007. A second phase of building replaced the Westbrook and Randall Well buildings with a more modern structure,. Government funding was put on hold for this project in March 2009 and was not expected to be available again until 2011. The new building, named the David Hockney Building after one its most famous alumni, opened in September 2014 after two years of construction. A new Advanced Technology Centre was scheduled to open in September 2015 on a nearby former car park.

More recently the College received the go-ahead by the Skills Funding Agency for a £50 million building. The project is the second phase of the College's Accommodation Strategy started with the opening of the Trinity Green Campus:

Bradford College's Appleton Building was named after the Bradford scientist Edward Victor Appleton, and the College's Lister Building was named after Samuel Lister.

Quality assurance

As an institution in receipt of government funding Bradford College is regularly inspected by Ofsted and the QAA. The last reports from 2008 (Ofsted) and 2010 (QAA) confirmed the high quality of the provision and identified a number of good practices across the institution. The Initial Teacher Education inspected by Ofsted in 2010 also resulted in good and outstanding grades.

Campuses

The main campus is situated on Great Horton Road close to Bradford city centre. However, some courses are delivered elsewhere. The Academy is located in the Three Valleys Centre in Keighley. There are several other campuses in Bradford, such as Bolton Royd on Manningham Lane or Appleton Academy in Wyke. Part-time leisure, community and some of the ESOL courses are offered in over 20 different locations across Bradford.

Bradford College Education Trust

Bradford College is the sponsor of three secondary schools as part of the Bradford College Education Trust. the three schools are Appleton Academy, Bradford Studio School and Samuel Lister Academy.

Erasmus participation

Bradford College participates in the Erasmus Programme. The College is in agreement with 26 institutions across 14 European countries:

Trivia

Bradford College's Trinity Green Campus is also home to the "Dragons Den" where EBL division 2 basketball Team Bradford Dragons play their home matches on Saturday evenings.

Bradford College students broke the record for the biggest onion bhaji in 2011 and the biggest samosa in 2012.

The management of the College caused a stir when a journalist found out it had ordered a mace worth £22,000 to enhance the students' experience during the graduation ceremony in December 2011.

Bradford College Students' Union was awarded the Further Education Students' Union of the Year title at the NUS 2013 Awards Ceremony.

Notable alumni and lecturers