Aquinas College, Stockport

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Aquinas College
Established	1980
Type	State Funded 6th Form
Religious affiliation	Roman Catholic
Principal	Dr Ambrose Smith, Ph.D
Location	Nangreave Road Stockport Greater Manchester England
LEA	Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
Ofsted number	130514
Students	1,850
Gender	Mixed
Ages	16+
Website	www.aquinas.ac.uk
Coordinates: 53°23′46″N 2°08′44″W / 53.396077, -2.145412

Aquinas College, Stockport, Greater Manchester is a Roman Catholic educational institute providing further education to those aged 16 and above. It was established in 1980 on the site of St. Michael's Secondary School, and is owned by the Diocese of Shrewsbury. The college is named after St. Thomas Aquinas, the medieval philosopher considered by many Catholics to be the Church's greatest theologian.

OFSTED inspectors in their last report on the college in 2003 concluded "There is much very good and excellent teaching. Lessons are very well planned, they have a clear and identified purpose and the teaching is supported by excellent learning materials.".^[1] The inspectors also criticised the college accommodation as being inadequate and recommended that key skills be improved. The college is popular among school leavers in the Stockport area, so much so that Aquinas College receives twice as many applications as there are places.^[2]

The college also offers adult education courses, including the government initiative ECDL course.

Famous alumni include Dominic Monaghan of Lord of the Rings and Lost fame, England field hockey captain Kate Walsh, British Paralympic swimmer Matt Walker, Neil Conley, artist and designer and winner of the Andy Goldsworthy young artist of the year award 2006, DJ Richard Straffon of 97.6 Chiltern FM, journalist and author James Hart.