Mottoes Skills for your future Chair Ken Barrass Total enrollment 32,063 (2010) | Chief Executive John Connolly Phone +44 1709 362111 | |
 | ||
Established 1853: Rotherham School of Science and Art
1981: Rotherham College of Arts and Technology
2016: Rotherham College Type Further Education college Location Rotherham
South Yorkshire
S65 1EG
England Address Town Centre Campus, Eastwood Lane, Rotherham S65 1EG, United Kingdom Notable alumni Sean Bean, CJ de Mooi, Nick Bax Colors Yellow, White, Blue, Green Similar Thomas Rotherham College, Barnsley College, North Nottinghamshire College, The Sheffield College, Doncaster College Profiles | ||
Rotherham College of Arts and Technology (shortened to RCAT) is the largest further education college in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England.
Contents
On 1 February 2016, the college merged with North Notts College, which has a main campus in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, to create a new education and training organisation, the RNN Group (Rotherham and North Notts Group). However, the name Rotherham College is being retained for the two Rotherham campuses.
The college also has one of the largest variety of vocational courses, including apprenticeships, in the South Yorkshire region and enrols around 7,000 students each year. It also runs over 30 higher education courses including degrees, foundation degrees and HND/Cs.
The college has two campus locations, one in Rotherham town centre and one in Dinnington. Its town centre campus is located near Rotherham Central railway station and the Rotherham Interchange.
Rotherham College of Arts and Technology is home to the Roland Music Academy which is one of 11 in the country and the first in the North of England. The college has industry links with Rother FM Hallam FM, Roland Corporation and the BBC. The college altogether has links with over 600 local private and public sector employers.
The current Chief Executive is John Connolly.
History
The college has its roots in the 19th century.
From the 1930s, it particularly provided technical education from what became known as the Howard Building, on Eastwood Lane, Rotherham. In 1981, three individual colleges of arts, technology and adult education were merged into one.
In 1993, as part of a process in England of college incorporation, the college was divested and separated from the local authority to become an autonomous trust.
In August 2004 the college merged with Rother Valley College, based in Dinnington.
Rother Valley Campus took its name from the Rother Valley which lies about five miles to the west, although the College does lie in the parliamentary constituency of the same name. It is partially built on land acquired from the now demolished Throapham Manor. The clock-towered main building was built as a mining college by the Dinnington Colliery Company, and was opened in 1928 as the Chelmsford Mining and Technical Institute. By the turn of the 1960s it was known as Dinnington Technical College, and later adopted the name Rother Valley College. In the 1950s the college included a secondary technical programme; this was separated in 1963 and merged with the neighbouring secondary modern school to create Dinnington High School.
After the merger, the Dinnington site became known as Rother Valley Campus (RVC) and, from 2014, as Rotherham College: Dinnington Campus.
On 1 February 2016, the college merged with North Notts College, which has a main campus in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, to create a new education and training organisation, the RNN Group (Rotherham and North Notts Group). However, the name Rotherham College is being retained for the two Rotherham campuses.
Campus locations and facilities
The College has two main campuses, Rotherham Town Centre Campus (TCC) and Dinnington Campus (DC). The Town Centre Campus is on Eastwood Lane 53.43209°N 1.35269°W / 53.43209; -1.35269, and Dinnington Campus on Doe Quarry Lane, Dinnington. 53.37434°N 1.20702°W / 53.37434; -1.20702
The Town Centre Campus comprises three main buildings. The Clifton Building was opened in 1961 and the Eastwood Building in the late 1970s. In 2010 Rotherham College began the first stage of a new build programme at the Town Centre campus, with the demolition of the 'Starting Point' building on Eastwood Lane. A new building comprising classrooms, a student services area and modern circulation spaces, named the Wentworth Building and costing £8m, was completed in September 2011. In March 2012 Prince Andrew, The Duke of York took part in its official opening. The college's previous Howard Building was taken out of use in 2012 and sold in 2014.
The Town Centre campus has facilities for a wide range of curriculum including arts, media and performance, engineering, plumbing, health, social and child care, English and maths, business and IT.
The Catering and Hospitality teaching area runs a training restaurant, 'The Wharncliffe', while the Hair and Beauty area run salons for hair, nail and beauty treatments under the brand name 'Inspire'. The 'Studio Theatre puts on student performances. All these services are open to the public.
In 2015 the exterior of part of the Eastwood Building was 'clad' with a metal finish, under which was extensive new insulation. All the windows in this section were renewed, improving light levels and heat retention. The biggest impact might be thought to be the improvement in visual appearance. New, lit signage was also applied.
Near the Town Centre Campus, the college has a separate 'Construction Centre' in three units on Rawmarsh Road, where joinery, brickwork, plastering and painting and decorating are taught.
The Dinnington campus includes a small livestock farm and specialist animal collection, used for animal care and animal management studies and specialist facilities for Motor Vehicle engineering, Construction, Animation and Games alongside general classrooms. A new refectory and social space called the 'Heartspace' was opened in January 2015 by Sir Kevin Barron, MP for Rother Valley. The campus also hosts a nursery for children aged 0–5 which is run by the college and accommodates the children of students and the general public.
Including the construction of the Wentworth Building, the college cites in its Annual Report and publicity material that there has been £20m of investment in its facilities and equipment over the past five years.
There is no campus living accommodation for students on either college campus.
Curriculum
The college educates around 2,000 16-18 year-olds each year on vocational courses, offered in many subject disciplines. It also educates up to 5,000 adult learners on full and part-time courses (both vocational and English and maths) and around 400 apprentices (aged 16 and above).
It has around 400 students each year enrolled on higher education courses, including degree courses validated by the University of Hull and Sheffield Hallam University.
The college collaborates with several local schools and provides part-time study for some 14-16 pupils on day release from the schools.