Wirral Metropolitan College

Coordinates: 53°23′34″N 3°01′18″W / 53.3929°N 3.0216°W / 53.3929; -3.0216

Wirral Met College is a Further and Higher Education College situated on the Wirral Peninsula, in the north-west of England.

Overview

Wirral Met is the largest provider of post 16 learning on the Wirral and is divided into four main Campuses:

• Twelve Quays, Birkenhead^[1]
• Wirral Waters, Birkenhead
• Conway Park, Birkenhead^[2]
• The Oval, Bebington

The college has invested £21m in refurbishing and building the campuses, including new facilities at the Oval campus, where it supports delivery of Public Services, Sports and Outdoor Education. The campuses at Conway Park and Twelve Quays in the centre of Birkenhead have been refurbished and they support a whole range of vocational education from entry level to higher education.

A further campus was completed at Tower Road in Birkenhead and opened in September 2015, the Wirral Waters campus, of approximately 35,000 square feet (3,300 m²), provides courses focusing on construction.^[3][4]

Profile

Wirral Met College, located in the north-west of England, is a state-funded educational institute of further and higher education. It operates through three main campuses in Wirral, two of which are situated in Birkenhead, at a walking distance from the town centre. Its Twelve Quays Campus, which opened in September 2003, offers recreational facilities for students and comprises dance studios, modern library facilities, and art studios. The other campuses of the college are also equipped, providing recreational facilities and educational resources.

Further education at Wirral Met College is designed to prepare students for university education or enable them to acquire necessary skills in their chosen areas, such as engineering, accounting, business, and tourism. Additionally, the college also offers a wide range of English language course for students outside the UK, particularly those, who do not have it as their first language.

The college has partnerships with the University of Chester, the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Central Lancashire.

The current Principal and Chief Executive is Sue Higginson, who started her role as Principal in September 2012, having worked at Wirral Metropolitan College previously. Sue has had over 21 years experience in the Further Education sector, having decided to move from industry into a career in education.

History

The college's roots go back to 1855 when Birkenhead Arts School was launched. In the 1970s it merged with Birkenhead College of Technology on Borough Road, Carlett Park College and Withens Lane College in Liscard, which all originated in the 1950s. Wirral Met College was formed in 1982 when all the further education colleges in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral were amalgamated.

The Glenda Jackson Theatre, on the Borough Road campus of the college in Birkenhead, opened in 1983.^[5] It closed in 2003, and was demolished by Wirral Council, to make way for a new housing estate, in 2004.^[6]

Statistics

The college has 16,000 students with around 2,000 studying full-time. It has about 200 international students coming from some 30 countries.

It has status as a dedicated Centre of Vocational Excellence in Health and Social Care. The English Language Unit is accredited by the British Council and is a member of the British Association for State English Language Teaching (BASELT).

Notable students

• Brian Fleet, Senior Vice-President of Airbus UK
• Christian Furr, artist
• Paul O'Grady, TV personality
• Tom Palin, artist
• Ray Stubbs, sports broadcaster

References

External links

• Wirral Metropolitan College website