College of West Anglia

The College of West Anglia
Former names
 King's Lynn Technical School
Norfolk College of Arts and Technology
Cambridgeshire College of Agriculture and Horticulture
Isle College
Motto Changing lives through learning
Established 1894
Principal David Pomfret
Students 10,000
Location King's Lynn in Norfolk, Wisbech and Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
Website cwa.ac.uk

The College of West Anglia (often abbreviated to CWA) is a three-campus college of further education in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, England. The college currently has three campuses, located in King's Lynn, Wisbech and a landbased provision in Cambridge, with over 10,000 students and 800 staff.

Originally founded in 1894 as the King's Lynn Technical School in the port town of King's Lynn, Norfolk, it merged with the Cambridgeshire College of Agriculture and Horticulture to form the College of West Anglia in 1998. The college then merged with the Isle College in Wisbech in 2006, retaining the College of West Anglia name.[1]

Overview

The College of West Anglia educates over 10,000 full-time and part-time students each academic year, across a wide range of vocational and academic fields. In addition to full-time and part-time courses, the college also offers bespoke training for local businesses, apprenticeships and higher education courses, run in partnership with Anglia Ruskin University. The college has around 800 members of staff working across the three main campuses, and its other premises.[2]

Under the previous Ofsted inspection criteria, the college was rated outstanding (grade 1) in 2007-2008. The most recent Ofsted inspection in 2013 ranks it as good (grade 2), making it one of the best performing colleges in the country under the new criteria.[3]

Campuses

In 2009, building work commenced on the existing sites in King's Lynn, Wisbech and Cambridge, at a cost of over £35million.[4] The work includes two new technology centres at King's Lynn and Wisbech, both of which opened in 2013, a renovation of the tower block at King's Lynn and redevelopment at the Cambridge campus, including a bespoke higher education area.

In 2012, the college moved its sport provision to Lynnsport and Leisure Centre, in collaboration with King's Lynn and West Norfolk borough council. In association with Freebridge Community Housing and the Benjamin Foundation, the college's foundation studies is provision is located at separate premises in King's Lynn.[5] The college received a £1.75m grant from the government in 2012 to develop a creative arts centre specialising in TV, film and performing arts at the King's Lynn campus.[6]

History

Stephen Fry, right, rehearsing A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Norcat in 1975

The college was originally founded in 1894 as the King's Lynn Technical School. In 1973 it was renamed The Norfolk College of Arts and Technology, commonly abbreviated to "Norcat". In 1998, Norcat merged with the Cambridgeshire College of Agriculture & Horticulture, which added a land-based provision in Cambridgeshire. The revised institution adopted the name, College of West Anglia. In April 2006, Isle College in Wisbech was added in a further merger, to form the current, enlarged College of West Anglia.[7]

Principal

The college's current principal is David Pomfret. Pomfret joined the college in 2005, having previously been principal of Boston College. He has a background in education and training, having worked as a lecturer in business studies. Pomfret represents the college on a wide variety of professional and educational boards within Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.[8]

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ "History of CWA". College of West Anglia. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  2. ↑ "Candidate information about CWA" (PDF). College of West Anglia. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  3. ↑ "College delight at good rating in Ofsted report". Lynn News. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  4. ↑ "CWA starts £35m building work". BBC News. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  5. ↑ "Our campuses". College of West Anglia. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  6. ↑ "CWA to build £2.5m arts centre". BBC News. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  7. ↑ "History of College". College of West Anglia. Retrieved 2016-02-25.
  8. ↑ "Big Interview". KL Magazine. Retrieved 25 March 2013.

External links

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