Bradford College

HE provision

Bradford College is one of the FE Colleges with the largest HE provision in England, with approximately 170 full and part-time HE courses.

The College's HE provision is currently validated by University of Bolton, having previously been validated by Teesside University.

The move to Teesside University was a result of Leeds Metropolitan University's withdrawal from its partnerships with colleges except for foundation degrees.

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 Forster opened new buildings in Bridge Street.

On 23 June 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 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, 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 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 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 famous alumni of the college. This list includes ex-students such as Edward Appleton, Tasmin Archer, David Berglas, Alex Corina, Bob Hardy, David Hockney and Joyce Gould.

Trinity Green, which houses a new sports centre and teaching facilities for construction and engineering students, opened in September 2008, housed in a new purpose-built building on the site of MacMillan Halls of Residence which were demolished in 2007. A second phase of building replaced the Westbrook and Randall Well buildings with a more modern structure. Government funding was put on hold for this project in March 2009 and was not expected to be available again until 2011. The new building, named the David Hockney Building after one its most famous alumni, opened in September 2014 after two years of construction. A new Advanced Technology Centre was scheduled to open in September 2015 on a nearby former car park.

The College received the go-ahead by the Skills Funding Agency for a £50 million building. The project is the second phase of the College's Accommodation Strategy started with the opening of the Trinity Green Campus:

Bradford College's Appleton Building was named after the Bradford scientist Edward Victor Appleton, and the College's Lister Building was named after Samuel Lister.

Quality assurance

As an institution in receipt of government funding Bradford College is regularly inspected by Ofsted and the QAA. The last reports from 2008 (Ofsted) and 2010 (QAA) confirmed the high quality of the provision and identified a number of good practices across the institution.

Ofsted inspection in 2017 gave the college a 'Requires Improvement' grading in most areas. The Initial Teacher Education inspected by Ofsted in 2010 also resulted in good and outstanding grades.

The latest Ofsted inspection was done on 9 November 2021 and found that the College was Good.

Campuses

The main campus is situated on Great Horton Road close to Bradford city centre. However, some courses are delivered elsewhere. The Academy is located in the Three Valleys Centre in Keighley. There are several other campuses in Bradford, such as Bolton Royd on Manningham Lane or Appleton Academy in Wyke. Part-time leisure, community and some of the ESOL courses are offered in over 20 different locations across Bradford.

Bradford College Education Trust

Bradford College is the sponsor of three secondary schools as part of the Bradford College Education Trust. the three schools are Appleton Academy, Bradford Studio School and Samuel Lister Academy.

Erasmus participation

Bradford College participates in the Erasmus Programme. The College is in agreement with 26 institutions across 14 European countries:

• Başkent University, Turkey
• European University Cyprus, Cyprus
• Hacettepe University, Turkey
• Miguel de Cervantes European University, Spain
• University of Rennes 1, France
• Zagreb School of Economics and Management, Croatia
• Humak University of Applied Sciences, Finland
• Fırat University, Turkey
• Ecole Supérieure des Arts Appliqués et du Textile, France
• Novia University of Applied Sciences, Finland
• Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa, Poland
• Károli Gáspár Református Egyetem, Hungary
• Katholieke Hogeschool Limburg, Belgium
• Kirchliche Pädagogische Hochschule in Vienna, Austria
• Haute Ecole Namuroise Catholique, Belgium
• Marnix Academie, The Netherlands
• Universidad de Córdoba, Spain
• Universidad de Granada, Spain
• University College Lillebaelt, Denmark
• University of Crete, Greece
• University of Gdansk, Poland
• University of Lower Silesia, Poland
• UPV/EHU Bilbao, Spain
• Bozok University, Turkey
• Laurea University of Applied Sciences, Finland

Trivia

Bradford College's Trinity Green Campus is also home to the "Dragons Den" where EBL division 2 basketball Team Bradford Dragons play their home matches on Saturday evenings.

Bradford College students broke the record for the biggest onion bhaji in 2011 and the biggest samosa in 2012.

The management of the College caused a stir when a journalist found out it had ordered a mace worth £22,000 to enhance the students' experience during the graduation ceremony in December 2011.

Bradford College Students' Union was awarded the Further Education Students' Union of the Year title at the NUS 2013 Awards Ceremony.

Notable people

Alumni

• Tasmin Archer, singer-songwriter
• Alex Corina, artist and community activist
• Gloria de Piero, Labour MP for Ashfield
• Stanley Ellis, linguist
• Sir Edmund Elton, 8th Baronet, ceramics artist and inventor
• Richard Eurich, artist and landscape painter
• Graham Fransella, painter
• Andy Goldsworthy, artist
• David Hockney, artist
• Yvonne McGregor, racing cyclist
• Mick Manning, illustrator and children's author
• Donald Rooum, cartoonist
• Paul Sample, cartoonist
• Robert E. Swindells, author

Lecturers

• Kim Leadbeater, Labour Co-op politician
• Alice Mahon, trade unionist and Labour Party politician

Unclear

• Trevor Bell, artist
• Major General Dudley Graham Johnson (13 February 1884 – 21 December 1975), British Army officer and recipient of the Victoria Cross

References

References

1. (May 2012). "HE in FE Guide".
2. "Bradford College Announces Working Partnership with Teesside University". Bradford College.
3. (16 November 2012). "College's bid for full degree-awarding powers rejected".
4. (5 August 2011). "Colleges take step towards full degree-awarding powers".
5. (February 2012). "Bradford College leads the way for HE in FE as an HEA subscriber".
6. "Study for a University of London Degree at Bradford College".
7. "BEng (Tech) Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Top-up) validated by Teesside University".
8. "BEng (Tech) Mechanical Engineering (Top-up) validated by Teesside University".
9. "Higher Apprenticeship in Sustainable Built Environment validated by Teesside University".
10. "Bradford College Announces Working Partnership with Teesside University".
11. "Bradford College announces partnership with Teesside University. Bradford College has joined forces with Teesside University to offer its students degrees validated by the award winning University.".
12. (16 November 2012). "College's bid for full degree-awarding powers rejected".
13. (September 2018). "Draft Exit Strategy (Hull College, Leeds City College, Bradford College, West Nottinghamshire College)". Leeds Metropolitan University}}{{Dead link.
14. (17 October 1998). "Sale of college campus is agreed". [[Telegraph & Argus]].
15. Curtis, Polly. (25 July 2003). "Bradford merger fails". [[The Guardian]].
16. [http://www.175heroes.org.uk 175 Heroes]
17. "MP Opens 'Trinity Green'". Bradford College.
18. (9 February 2008). "College's new era is dawning!". [[Telegraph & Argus]].
19. "21st Century Campus". Bradford College.
20. (19 March 2009). "Bradford campus plans in limbo". [[Telegraph & Argus]].
21. (26 June 2009). "Plans for college campus postponed". [[Telegraph & Argus]].
22. "Work Set to Begin on New Advanced Technology Centre {{!".
23. "Building the Future of Bradford College".
24. "About the New Build".
25. (October 2008). "Bradford College inspection report. November 2008". Ofsted.
26. (January 2010). "Integrated quality and enhancement review: Bradford College January 2010". QAA}}{{Dead link.
27. (March 2010). "Bradford College Initial Teacher Education inspection report". Ofsted.
28. (November 2021). "Bradford College inspection report. November 2021". Ofsted.
29. "The Academy".
30. "Courses in the Community". Bradford College.
31. "Erasmus".
32. "Bradford Bhaji Smashes Guinness World Record".
33. Baker, Hannah. (12 June 2012). "Outlook was positive despite the weather". [[Telegraph & Argus]].
34. (15 June 2012). "FErret. Estate agents of the revolution". [[Times Educational Supplement.
35. Rush, James. (9 June 2012). "Bradford College criticised over £22,000 mace". [[Telegraph & Argus]].
36. Vasagar, Jeevan. (11 June 2012). "College defends £24,000 mace purchase. Lecturers union describes expenditure on ceremonial club for graduation ceremonies as 'outrageous misuse of funds'". [[The Guardian]].
37. "NUS Awards 2013: Winners".
38. "Student Voice: Our Award Winning Students' Union".
39. . ["Yvonne McGregor MBE"](https://www.bradfordcollege.ac.uk/about/arts-culture/framing-olympic-inn/yvonne-mcgregor).
40. Roderick Bailey, ''Forgotten Voices of the Victoria Cross'', Imperial War Museum (Great Britain), The Imperial War Museum, Richard Dannatt, Random House, 2010, {{ISBN. 9780091938161