Newcastle College Information

Newcastle College is a further education and higher education college in Newcastle upon Tyne, in the North East of England.

Newcastle College is the largest college in the North East of England, with over 16,000 students. The College specialises in vocational education, and its Transport Academy was awarded The Queens Anniversary Prize for Further and Higher Education in 2018.

The college provides Further Education, Higher Education, Apprenticeships and Adult courses and has five schools: The School of Creative and Digital Industries, The School of Engineering, The School of Health, Childcare, Business and Science and the School of Construction, Leisure and Sport and Newcastle School of Education.

Newcastle College is a division of NCG, one of the largest education, training and employability organisations in the UK. Ofsted graded the college as Good in 2016.

Newcastle College can trace its roots back to 1894, when it was established as Rutherford Memorial College, becoming Rutherford Grammar School in 1945. In 1930, the President of the Board of Education Charles Trevelyan founded the Trevelyan Building for girls. In 1962 the college was divided into two separate divisions, the college of Further Education and the Charles Trevelyan Technical College. In 1972 the two colleges merged and became known as Newcastle College.

According to The Journal, the college was falling into disrepair in the late twentieth century. Dame Jackie Fisher, who joined the college as principal in 2000 and later became chief executive of the group, suggests that the buildings were in a poor state due to lack of investment in the 1990s and that the structure of the college was wasteful. The restructuring took Fisher and her team three and a half years, with the college, as of September 2011, turning over £150m a year, compared to £45m in 2003.

In 2013, Newcastle College appointed new Principal, Carole Kitching.

In 2015, Newcastle College won Educate Norths UK College of the Year for their learning support service.

In 2017, the college was bestowed a Silver rating as part of the governments new teaching excellence framework. The TEF is a new scheme for recognising excellent teaching, in addition to existing national quality requirements for universities, colleges and other higher education providers.

Participating higher education providers receive a gold, silver or bronze award reflecting the excellence of their teaching, learning environment and student outcomes. The awards cover undergraduate teaching.

In 2017, Newcastle College won TES FEs Best Support for Learners Award.

In 2018 Newcastle College was awarded the prestigious Queens Anniversary Prize for Further and Higher Education in recognition for its outstanding commitment to vocational training through its Transport Academy. The prize forms part of the national honours system and is the highest major honour that can be awarded to a UK college or university. It is the most significant form of national recognition open to a UK academic or vocational institution.

Newcastle College is a division of NCG (formerly Newcastle College Group). With a turnover of more than £155million, NCG is one of the largest education, training and employability organisations in the UK.

In August 2007, the college merged with Skelmersdale and Ormskirk College, a college in Lancashire; it was later renamed West Lancashire College in August 2011.

Intraining was formed in March 2008, following the acquisition of TWL Training in December 2007, and the purchase of the troubled training organisation Carter and Carter in March 2008. This led to the introduction of the Newcastle College Group (NCG).

In November 2011, the group also acquired the British youth charity Rathbone Training. The college attempted to merge with Northumberland College, but the Ashington-based college rejected the merger plans in response to feedback from their staff, students and local MPs.

In November 2005, the Times Educational Supplement reported that lecturers who rebelled, "against new contracts, were defeated after they faced losing their jobs." Following cuts by the coalition government, the college reorganised its curriculum structure leading to 200-equivalent full-time job losses, with 188 new jobs created in 2011. The restructure lead to the grade, and therefore salary, reduction of many teaching staff. Shortly after redundancies were announced, The Guardian reported that NCGs chief executive, Dame Jackie Fisher, "enjoyed a pay rise, including bonus and retention payment, of almost £73,000." However, the report mentions a spokeswomans defence of the pay rise, pointing out "that Fisher is responsible for three divisions with an annual turnover of £152m in 2009-10." Also in 2011, allegations of workplace bullying were publicly made against college management and reported on the BBCs regional Inside Out programme in January 2012. NCG vehemently refuted these allegations stating that “it takes any allegation of bullying extremely seriously and has a clear and transparent process for dealing with staff concerns. All reported allegations are always thoroughly investigated and dealt with appropriately.

Ofsted downgraded the college from outstanding to good following an inspection in 2012. It was widely reported that college management had ejected the inspection team from the premises, and that some inspectors were offered counselling as a result of the process.

In March 2014, Newcastle Sixth Form College, a Further Education college in Newcastle upon Tyne, was official opened.

In August 2014, Kidderminster College was acquired by NCG.

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