Exeter College - A brief history, future plans
A brief history and future plans
Exeter - A Growing City
The City of Exeter has a population of c.118,000 and is situated at the centre of
the south-west peninsula. Due to its excellent communications and its reputation
for a very high quality of life, the City is growing rapidly with significant new,
inward investment taking place e.g. The Meteorological Office; EDF Electricity Group;
Reuters, and a ‘new town’ is planned for a site adjacent to Exeter International
Airport.
Exeter College
Exeter College was established in 1970 as the first tertiary college in England.
The College was designed to provide all post-16 education and training provision
for the City, bringing together the sixth forms from the former grammar schools
and
the Exeter Technical College. Each of the secondary schools immediately outside
the City boundaries has a sixth form providing young people and their parents with
a choice of post-16 opportunities. During the past 40 years the College has grown
considerably and established a good reputation in both the City and across Mid,
East and South Devon.
In 2007/08 the College enrolled c.3,700 full-time and c.4,500 part-time and
work-based-learning students on courses across all programme areas of study,
except those related to the land-based industries. The College also provides
vocational courses for over 500 14-16 year olds drawn from the City’s five 11-16
secondary schools and a special school. In general, students’ achievements are well
above average for the FE Sector. ‘A’ Level success rates match those in Sixth Form
Colleges.
The College’s management structure
and internal organisation follows three distinctive curriculum offerings -
Sixth, Skills, Access and Support.
The College’s £25m property strategy builds on these distinctive areas of work,
recognising the government’s priorities contained in the 14-19 strategy, the skills
strategy, Success for All, and the development of Foundation Degrees.