Rotherham College of Arts and Technology

Rotherham College of Arts and Technology
Mottoes Set yourself up for the future
Established

1853 - Rotherham School of Science and Art

1981 - current name
Type Further Education college
Location Rotherham
South Yorkshire
S65 1EG
England
Local authority Rotherham
DfE number 372/8000
DfE URN 130527 Tables
Staff 560
Students 14,850
Gender Mixed
Ages 16–upwards
Colours Blue Green, Yellow and White
Website www.rotherham.ac.uk
View of Rotherham College main building

Rotherham College of Arts and Technology (RCAT) is the largest further education college in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The college also has one of the largest variety of vocational courses in the South Yorkshire region, having a maximum of 2,312 courses. The overall college student enrolments is of 32,063 a year, with 11,826 Issued qualifications.

The college has two campus locations, one in Rotherham, and one in Dinnington which are 97 acres of campus. It has a staff of 560, and an enrolment of 1,100 16–17 year olds and 2,900 18 year olds. Its town centre campus is located near Rotherham Central railway station and the Rotherham Interchange, and the Dinnington Campus is equidistant from Sheffield and Rotherham, and about 5 miles (8.0 km) away from Worksop.

Rotherham College of Arts and Technology is home to the Roland Music Academy which is one of 11 in the country and the first in the North of England. The college has industry links with Rother FM Hallam FM, Roland corporation and the BBC. The college altogether has links with over 600 local private and public sector employers.

The current principal is Gill Alton.

History

View of Rother Valley Campus from the pit tip, 2004

Rotherham College has provided technical education in Rotherham since the 1930s. In 1981, three individual colleges of arts, technology and adult education were merged into one.

In August 2004 the college merged with Rother Valley College, becoming Rother Valley Campus (RVC) and is now known as Dinnington Campus (from 2014). RVC took its name from the Rother Valley which lies about five miles to the west, although the College does lie in the parliamentary constituency of the same name. The clock-towered building was built as a mining college by the Dinnington Colliery Company, and was opened in 1928 as the Chelmsford Mining and Technical Institute. By the turn of the 1960s it was known as Dinnington Technical College, and later adopted the name Rother Valley College. In the 1950s the college included a secondary technical programme; this was separated in 1963 and merged with the neighbouring secondary modern school to create Dinnington High School.

Campus

View of Rother Valley Campus main building

The College has two main campuses, Rotherham Town Centre Campus (TCC) and Dinnington Campus (DC). The Town Centre Campus is on Eastwood Lane 53°25′56″N 1°21′10″W / 53.43209°N 1.35269°W, and Dinnington Campus on Doe Quarry Lane, Dinnington. 53°22′28″N 1°12′25″W / 53.37434°N 1.20702°W

In 2010 Rotherham College began the first stage of a new build programme, with the demolition of the Starting Point building on Eastwood Lane. A new £8,000,000 Wentworth Building was begun in January 2011; in March 2012 Prince Andrew, The Duke of York took part in its official opening.

The campus includes a small livestock farm, and is partially on land acquired from the now demolished Throapham Manor.

The Catering and Hospitality program runs Wharncliffe Restaurant as a training restaurant. The college has 97 general classrooms, 128 specialist classrooms.

There is no campus living accommodation for students.

Curriculum

The College, provides education to GCSE, BTEC and AS level for students between the age of 16-18. It also provides Night classes for Adult learners. Courses for Adult learners are part-time, but courses for students are full-time.

Degree programmes

The College offers both Higher Education and Apprenticeship programmes. Foundation Degrees include Business Management, Computing, Graphic Design, and Performing Arts.

It has Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) status in four areas. Cisco and Microsoft ICT Academies Partnership with local radio stations Rother FM and Hallam FM have endorsed the media course.

Rotherham college is in partnership with Sheffield Hallam University, Huddersfield University and The University of Hull to deliver university programmes on site.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ "Sean Bean honoured on Sheffield walk of fame". BBC News (BBC). 16 January 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  2. ↑ Murray, Janet: "College days", The Guardian, 5 June 2007. Retrieved 28 April 2013

External links