Priestley College

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Priestley Sixth-Form And Community College
We Realise Your Potential
School type Sixth-Form
Established 1970s
Affiliation Secular
Grades 16+
Principal Mike Southworth
Students approx. 1500
Colors Medium Blue and Gold
Location Wilderspool, Warrington
Website www.priestley.ac.uk

Priestley College is a sixth form college for 16-19 year olds, located in Wilderspool (though can be argued to be part of Stockton Heath or Latchford), Warrington, Cheshire, UK. It also offers adult courses, as well as professional training (albeit on another site), and is an associate college of the University of Salford.

It is named in honour of Joseph Priestley (March 13, 1733 - February 8, 1804), a clergyman, chemist and educator who spent some time in Warrington and was a pioneer in teaching modern history and the sciences.

The College opened in 1975, however it was the site of a girl's school previous to it becoming a mixed Sixth-Form.

It is a single campus college with 5 buildings,

  • The Priestley building (rooms prefixed with P) holds the administrative facilities (finance etc.), Social facilites (The Concourse, CafĂ© Bar, and Mezzanine), History, Graphics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Performing Arts, ICT, and Modern Foreign Languages. This building was modified over the summer of 2006 to comply with DDA legislation and will be further modified to include a performing arts suite.
  • The Adamson Centre (rooms prefixed wih A) holds Maths, English, Vocational Courses, Law, Buisiness Studies, Accounts, Geography and Geology
  • The Art and Design centre (rooms prefixed with D) holds 3D-Design, Woodwork, Art and Textiles.
  • The sports centre (rooms prefixed with S) holds sports and physical education
  • The learning resource centre (or library) (rooms prefixed with L) holds offices, the library and a communal IT cluster.
  • A new building is currently under construction (known as the "new build") and will be due for completion in Sept 2007. This will replace the Adamson building.


The college is near the town centre of Warrington (actually on Wildrespool Causeway for pedestrians), and thus is well served by public transport, which most students get free or at a half-fare (dependent on linear distance from their household, and whether the students live in areas under Warrington Borough Council control) generally speaking all students that live more than 3 miles out get free travel, those between 1.5 and 3 miles out get a half fare pass [1]. Bus serving the college are the 5, 6, 6A, 7, 7A, 8, 8A, 8X, 9, 45, 46 and 62 (Service 62 doesn't accept Warrington passes) serve the Wilderspool Causeway entrance, while the 11, 11A, 12, 12A, and 95 (contract) serve the Loushers Lane entrance. However, most students walk from the bus station to the college (approx. 15-20 minutes).

Priestley offers AS/A2 Levels, BTEC, AVCE, GCSE resits, foundation, key skills and pre-University foundation courses.


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