Leeds City College

Sites

the college describes itself as operating from three principal sites: Printworks, Park Lane and Quarry Hill "with smaller provisions in communities across the city". Its registered office is in Park Lane, LS3 1AA, at the former Park Lane College site.

The existing five sites of the three forming colleges continued in use, and were named as follows:

• Thomas Danby Campus, former Leeds Thomas Danby site, with specialist provision in catering and hospitality. This site was closed in September 2013 and activities relocated to the new Printworks Campus.
• Technology Campus, former Leeds College of Technology site with specialist provision in electrical and engineering crafts and computing, closed July 2019. It had been home to the Health, Social Care, Childcare and Public Services courses. The site is now demolished.
• Park Lane Campus, former Park Lane College Leeds site, with specialist provision in business training courses. In 2016 it was announced the creative arts block would close in 2019. In 2019 the Creative Arts block, along with the whole of the Technology Campus closed and courses moved to a brand new site on Quarry Hill.
• Horsforth Campus, former Park Lane College Horsforth site (closed June 2017, demolished 2022)
• Keighley Campus, former Park Lane College Keighley site and now known as Keighley College, with specialist provision in trade/construction programmes

In September 2011 a new site was opened after a college merger:

• Joseph Priestley Campus, former Joseph Priestley College Morley site, with sites also in Rothwell and Beeston.

In September 2013 a new site was opened:

• Printworks Campus, in Hunslet Road, Leeds, incorporating the Grade II listed print halls of the former Alf Cooke printworks and purpose-built new buildings, with an additional classroom block opened on 28 April 2023.

The college also initially operated from 12 other centres in Leeds; of these only Deacon House (Seacroft), Enfield Centre and Joseph Priestley Campus, Beeston remain in use.

In September 2019 a new site opened at Quarry Hill Campus. This new site was estimated to cost £60 million and is home to the School of Creative Arts, the School of Social Science, higher education provision in the creative arts and some space allocated to Leeds College of Music. Quarry Hill Annexe is located close by in Bridge Street and additional provision is available nearby in Eastgate. The sculpture Ribbons by Pippa Hale is located here, as the college was a partner in the project.

The Vine is a college site providing education for students with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD). It opened in September 2023 in Burmantofts, replacing an earlier facility in Headingley. It includes a hydrotherapy pool and it caters for learners with PMLD and learners aged up to 25 with an Education and Health Care Plan.

Reasons for merger

The decision to merge the three colleges was agreed by the three institutions involved with the joint aim being:

"...to raise achievement levels in Leeds and Keighley, offer more courses to suit the needs of everyone from school leavers to employers, and enhance our facilities to be amongst the best in the country."

With the three colleges offering many similar courses, one of the major advantages of having a unified education institution in the city is that duplication of courses is eliminated and the provision of centralised services to learners.

Timeline

According to the Leeds College Merger website, the Secretary of State gave official approval of the merger in January 2009 with the three colleges being dissolved on 31 March 2009. From 1 April 2009, Leeds City College would come into force with a new identity and from then on, publicity campaigns would run to extend the awareness of the new college. New students were enrolled to the new Leeds City College from September 2009.

Funding for the merger

It was assumed that the primary funding body for Further Education in England, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), had ring-fenced a capital grant to help fund the merger. Although no actual figure was published, an article in the Yorkshire Evening Post in December 2006 spoke of up to £200 million being made available.

However, news hit the headlines in spring 2009 of a serious and unexpected financial deficit within the LSC's national Building Colleges for the Future program, from where the grant would normally have been allocated. This has cast doubts on how just how much money (if any) will be made available for this merger, and when it would be released.

References

References

1. [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxedu_reports/download/(id)/119115/(as)/135771_345581.pdf Ofsted report March 2010]{{Dead link. (February 2020)
2. [http://theleedscollegemerger.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/merger-news-letter-v2.pdf 'Keeping you in touch with merger news'] {{Dead link. (July 2010)
3. (1 April 2009). "Leeds City College open for business". The Leeds college merger.
4. link. (1 October 2011)
5. [http://www.lcm.ac.uk/wp/index.php/2011-08/general/strategic-alliance-receives-approval/ 'Strategic Alliance receives approval'] {{webarchive. link. (4 August 2012)
6. "Troubled Hull College Group to de-merge one of three colleges". FE Week.
7. "About Leeds City College".
8. "Privacy & Cookie Policy".
9. "College merger". Leeds City College.
10. "Thomas Danby Campus". Leeds City College.
11. [http://keighleycollege.ac.uk/ Keighley College]
12. "Printworks Campus". Leeds City College.
13. Benn, H., [https://twitter.com/hilarybennmp/status/1651930811451465728 Delighted to have been invited to open the new @leedscitycoll block at the Printworks campus], ''Twitter'', published 28 April 2023, accessed 2 May 2023
14. "College Centres". Leeds City College.
15. "Quarry Hill Campus".
16. Leeds City College, [https://leedscitycollege.ac.uk/campuses/eastgate/ Eastgate], accessed 26 October 2023
17. Vernon, Hayden. (2024-10-12). "Leeds sculpture celebrates 400 women, from suffragists to boxers". The Guardian.
18. (2024-05-05). "Leeds sculpture to celebrate city's notable women". BBC News.
19. "The Vine".
20. "College Merger". Leeds City College.
21. [http://www.theleedscollegemerger.co.uk/ The Leeds College Merger] {{webarchive. link. (14 September 2008)
22. [http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/200m-colleges-merger-proposal.1934832.jp £200m colleges merger proposal]
23. [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/7976621.stm College Building scheme 'flawed']