Belfast Metropolitan College Information

Coordinates: 54°35′38″N 5°55′59″W / 54.594°N 5.933°W / 54.594; -5.933

Belfast Metropolitan College is a further and higher education institution in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The college offers both vocational education and academic qualifications. With over 37,000 enrolments and an annual budget in the region of £60 million, it is Northern Irelands largest college.

It was created in 2007 by the merger of the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education and Castlereagh College.

The college encompasses a number of different campuses around the city. The largest are the Millfield Campus, Castlereagh campus and Titanic Quarter building which opened in September 2011 and resulted in the closure of the Brunswick Street and the College Square East campuses. Although some support staff remained based in College Square they were moved out by winter 2013 with the building being sold. College Square East was formally known colloquially as the Black Man Tech. This is because of the statue of Dr Henry Cooke, a leading 19th century Presbyterian, which stands outside the building. The statue of Cooke is not marble, but copper, like most other architecture around the city of Belfast around the same time. Due to exposure to the elements, most of these statues and domes around the city have oxidised, producing a green colour of copper oxide, especially noticeable on the nearby City Hall.

Millfield specialises in sports and social sciences. This campus offers courses from GCSE level to GNVQ and undergraduate courses. Castlereagh campus ( formerly Castlereagh college) specialises in Art and Design, Media and Business. The college also has campuses in Brunswick Street, Whiterock and Tower Street.

Past students include newsreader John Irvine, footballer Danny Blanchflower, actor Colin Morgan and TV personality Eamonn Holmes, Joseph Tomelty Northern Irish character actor and playwright, and television presenter and actor Aidan Browne.

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