Southampton City College

Southampton City College

Type	Further education college
Location	St Mary Street Southampton Hampshire SO14 1AR England
Local authority	Southampton
DfE URN	130696
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	16+
Website	www.southampton-city.ac.uk

Southampton City College is a general further education college located in Southampton, Hampshire, England.

The college has around 1700 full-time and 5000 part-time students, and offers a wide choice of full-time vocational courses including art & design, beauty, hairdressing, media, hospitality and catering, IT, performing arts, construction, engineering, business studies, care, travel & tourism, childcare, marine technology, boat building and technical theatre. The college was inspected by Ofsted in March 2011 and was judged to be a 'good' college with 'outstanding' features.

The college teaches courses for students from 16 years old up. There are courses at all levels depending on the previous qualifications of the student. There are HNDs and HNCs, Access to HE, A levels, BTEC Extended Diplomas and many other types of vocational course to give students the qualifications they need.

The college also trains apprentices. All of its apprentices are employed by a local business and train some of the time at college. Major local firms such as Griffon Hoverworks have high quality apprenticeship schemes. It runs other training courses for businesses and other organisations such as the local hospitals and City Council.

Campuses

• St Mary Street Campus (), the main campus is located near Southampton City Centre.
• Marine Technology Centre, Woolston ()

History (17th century-1995)

Old Victorian Workhouse frontage

The Victorian frontage which dates back to the old St Mary workhouse (1866) is on the site of earlier almshouses which go back to the 17th century.

Southampton City College has its origins in wartime skill shortages and a recognition of the need to set up a technical school in Southampton. Operating from a number of locations; in 1948 the Education Authority took over the old St Mary Institution (or workhouse) to provide a more permanent home for the Technical School and following substantial building works and consolidation of a number of local school sites, it was opened as the Technical College in June 1952.

In 1960 work had begun on the construction of Southampton College of Technology and the Technical College was administered under this framework. In 1969, however, it became a separate entity and as such adopted the name Southampton Technical College. In June 1995 it changed its name again to Southampton City College.

Redevelopment (2004–2011)

City College has finished an extensive campus redevelopment programme. The first stage was completed in September 2004, which included the completion of a new reception and information & advice centre, new teaching block with learning centres for IT, Art & Design, Health & Social Care and Childcare. The second phase was completed in the summer of 2005 and involved the development of a new technology building which includes facilities for motor vehicle, brickwork and construction trades. In September 2009 an outdated block was transformed to provide industry standard learning facilities for 3D creative design, engineering, professional construction and electrical installation. This block also houses learning centres and a lecture theatre.

In September 2010, with 85% of its buildings new or refurbished, City College opened two new blocks, forming the completion phase of the campus redevelopment project. 'The hub' includes a new theatre, TV and radio studios, a business training suite, a learning centre a theatre bar and fitness suite. The conjoined Aspire building houses new facilities for catering, hair and beauty, together with seminar rooms and learning centres.

These work-based training facilities are open to the public as the "Aspire" restaurant and "Kudos" Hair and Beauty Salons, and forms an integral part in the education provided in these service related industries.

'the hub'

’the hub' interior.

The college's £34 million third phase development of the site provides a commercial and community resource. These new facilities known as 'the hub' can be used by learners of all ages, the local community and local businesses.

The comprehensive new development 'the hub' includes:

• a 240 seat theatre
• Aspire – a commercial restaurant
• Kudos – a hair and beauty salon
• Media studios
• A TV studio that can be used to film in HD
• A central cafe, run by the College's hospitality students
• Numerous seminar rooms and break out areas

The Hub Website - http://www.southampton-city.ac.uk/hubtheatre/

These facilities can all be booked by business and community users and are frequently used to host local and regional conferences; for example AOSEC teaching and learning fair 2014.

eLearning

City College provides a number of electronic systems to support students in their learning.

• A virtual learning environment (VLE) branded as Citybit based on Moodle software is available to all students from inside and outside the college.
• A streaming media service branded as Citytube is also available. Very much like “YouTube”, students can upload videos as well as view learning content produced or supplied by teachers to support their learning.

In 2011 City College's eLearning systems featured prominently in the OFSTED best practice guide. ofsted virtual learning environments e-portfolio ofsted good practice case studies booklet pdf

In 2012 Southampton City College was shortlisted for a Times Educational Supplement (TES) FE award in elearning for the work done in Citybit, the VLE.

External links

• Southampton City College
• Ofsted Report Mar 2011