Bradford College
Encyclopedia
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
and higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
college located in Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
in the north of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, with approximately 25,000 students. The College offers a range of full and part time courses from introductory level through to postgraduate level and caters for a variety of students, including school leavers, adults wanting to return to education, degree-level students and those seeking professional qualifications.
Bradford College offers more university level qualifications than any other college in England. with approximately 170 full and part time HE courses to choose from. Most of the college's degrees are validated by Leeds Metropolitan University
Leeds Metropolitan University
Leeds Metropolitan University is a British University with three campuses. Two are situated in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England while the third is situated in Bhopal, India...
; previously they were validated by the University of Bradford
University of Bradford
The University of Bradford is a British university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The University received its Royal Charter in 1966, making it the 40th University to be created in Britain, but its origins date back to the early 1800s...
with the final cohort graduating in December 2007. Bradford College plans to apply for university status and award their own degrees, the application process due to formally start in May 2008.
Bradford Colleges Trinity Green Campus is also home to the "Dragons Den" where EBL division 2 basketball Team Bradford Dragons play there home matches on saturday evenings.
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 ForsterWilliam Edward Forster
William Edward Forster PC, FRS was an English industrialist, philanthropist and Liberal Party statesman.-Early life:...
opened new buildings in Bridge Street.
On June 23, 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
Saltaire
Saltaire is a Victorian model village within the City of Bradford Metropolitan District, West Yorkshire, England, by the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal...
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
Ilkley
Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in West Yorkshire, in the north of England. Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the metropolitan borough of Bradford. Approximately north of Bradford, the town lies mainly on the south bank of the River Wharfe...
, 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
University of Bradford
The University of Bradford is a British university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The University received its Royal Charter in 1966, making it the 40th University to be created in Britain, but its origins date back to the early 1800s...
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
Keighley
Keighley is a town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated northwest of Bradford and is at the confluence of the River Aire and the River Worth...
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
Tasmin Archer
Tasmin Archer is an English pop singer. Her first album, Great Expectations, spawned the hit "Sleeping Satellite" which reached number one in the United Kingdom and Ireland.-Biography:...
, David Berglas
David Berglas
David Berglas is a psychological illusionist and mentalist.-Early Life:Berglas escaped from Nazi Germany and fled to Britain at the age of 12. He later joined US Army in WWII, as an intelligence officer, after lying about his age...
, Alex Corina
Alex Corina
Alexander John Corina, known as Alex Corina is an artist and community worker based in Garston, Liverpool.Alex Corina was born in Bradford where he attended Buttershaw Comprehensive School and Bradford College of Art. He moved to Liverpool 1985 where he worked as a civil servant for the Drugs...
, Bob Hardy, David Hockney
David Hockney
David Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
and Joyce Gould. The full list can be viewed at http://www.175heroes.org.uk.
More recently there have been renovations planned for the one underground "A" floor of the Westbrook building, including a student union relocation and student common area renovation.
Bradford College's Appleton Building was named after the Bradford scientist Edward Victor Appleton
Edward Victor Appleton
Sir Edward Victor Appleton, GBE, KCB, FRS was an English physicist.-Biography:Appleton was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire and educated at Hanson Grammar School. At the age of 18 he won a scholarship to St John's College, Cambridge...
, and the College's Lister Building was named after Samuel Lister.
Notable alumni and Lecturers
- Alice MahonAlice MahonAlice Mahon is a British former Labour Party politician and trade unionist.She was Member of Parliament for Halifax from 1987 until 2005. She is a left-winger who was a member of the Socialist Campaign Group and is a Eurosceptic...
, trade unionist and Labour Party politician - Donald RooumDonald RooumDonald Rooum is an English anarchist cartoonist and writer. He has a long association with Freedom Press who have published seven volumes of his Wildcat cartoons....
, British cartoonist - Sir Edmund Elton, 8th BaronetSir Edmund Elton, 8th BaronetSir Edmund Harry Elton, 8th Baronet was an English inventor and studio potter noted for his production of Elton Ware at the Clevedon Elton Sunflower Pottery....
, ceramics artist and inventor - Richard EurichRichard EurichRichard Ernst Eurich, OBE, RA was an English artist and landscape painter, of German Jewish descent, born in Bradford, West Yorkshire. He was the second of five children of Dr Friederich Wilhelm Eurich, Professor of forensic medicine and bacteriologist who was famous for his research into the...
– was an English artist and landscape painter. - Alex CorinaAlex CorinaAlexander John Corina, known as Alex Corina is an artist and community worker based in Garston, Liverpool.Alex Corina was born in Bradford where he attended Buttershaw Comprehensive School and Bradford College of Art. He moved to Liverpool 1985 where he worked as a civil servant for the Drugs...
, artist and community activist - Graham FransellaGraham FransellaGraham Fransella is an Australian figurative and abstract painter.-Life:Fransella was born in Harrow, England. He studied at the Bradford School of Art, Yorkshire in the early 1970s, before moving to Melbourne, Australia, in 1975.-Work:...
, painter - David HockneyDavid HockneyDavid Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
, artist - Andy GoldsworthyAndy GoldsworthyAndy Goldsworthy, OBE is a British sculptor, photographer and environmentalist producing site-specific sculpture and land art situated in natural and urban settings. He lives and works in Scotland.-Life and career:The son of F...
, artist - Trevor Bell, artist
- Will Robson, mosaic artist