Headquarters Glasgow, United Kingdom | ||
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Similar City of Glasgow College, Glasgow College of Nautical, Glasgow Kelvin College, Langside College, Stow College | ||
Central College, formerly Central College of Commerce, was a college situated in the centre of Glasgow. It merged with Glasgow Metropolitan College and Glasgow College of Nautical Studies in 2010 to form City of Glasgow College. The college had links to universities such as Caledonian and Glasgow University and provided courses such as Business Studies, Information Technology and Health, Hair and Beauty, Legal Studies (which can provide a direct access to the LLB law degree) and accountancy.
Contents
The college was one of Scotland's few specialist colleges and provided courses from Certificate through to Postgraduate level.
In addition to the first two years of full-time degree programmes, the college offered training courses and business services to companies in the private and public sectors - locally, nationally and internationally.
The college achieved the quality standard "Scottish Quality Management System" (SQMS) and had numerous other training and quality awards.
Most of the students at the college progressed to the local Universities of Glasgow, Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian and West of Scotland.
The college had over 500 staff. The principal since October 2007 was Paul Little.
History
The college was founded in 1963 and its first chairman was Charles Oakley, who was heavily involved in the regeneration of Glasgow after World War II. The college has grown since its founding and currently has about 2300 full-time students and 6000 part-time students.
Central College merged with two other city centre colleges - Metropolitan, and Nautical - to form a "super college" that is the biggest in Scotland and one of the largest in the UK. The Central College Board and staff had originally opposed the plan, but after much negotiation among the three Colleges, the merger was agreed. A proposed £300m "super campus" will be built on Cathedral Street and Thistle Street following the establishment of a new company, New Campus Glasgow, to procure it.
The former Allan Glen's School buildings were demolished in mid-2013 and the new campus is expected to be completed by 2016. It will accommodate about 2000 staff and 50,000 students.
Campus
The college was situated in Cathedral Street, Glasgow, near to George Square and Glasgow Metropolitan. The campus comprised three buildings. Hairdressing, health and beauty classes were taught in the Charles Oakley building. The Allan Glen building hosted business, legal, accounting and ICT subjects. The newest building, the Central Business Learning Zone (CBLZ), housed the college's information services along with examination and training facilities.
Courses
The college ran courses leading to qualifications including National Certificates, Scottish Vocational Qualifications, Higher National Certificates (HNC), Higher National Diplomas (HND) and Diplomas in HE through three departments
The college also ran special courses for asylum-seekers, including English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL 1 - 4).