Yeovil College
Encyclopedia
Yeovil College is a tertiary institution and further education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...

 college based in Yeovil, Somerset, England. Its main campus is on Mudford Road, Yeovil, but the College also operates the North Dorset Skills Centre in Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury is a town in Dorset, England, situated on the A30 road near the Wiltshire border 20 miles west of Salisbury. The town is built 718 feet above sea level on the side of a chalk and greensand hill, which is part of Cranborne Chase, the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset...

 and the Construction Skills Centre, Lufton, Yeovil, not far from the Yeovil Town Football Club stadium. In conjunction with the universities of Bournemouth
Bournemouth University
Bournemouth University is a university in and around the large south coast town of Bournemouth, UK...

, the West of England
University of the West of England
The University of the West of England is a university based in the English city of Bristol. Its main campus is at Frenchay, about five miles north of the city centre...

 (UWE) and Gloucestershire
University of Gloucestershire
The University of Gloucestershire is a university primarily based in Gloucestershire, England, spread over four campuses, three in Cheltenham and one in Gloucester...

, the College also provides Higher Education, degree-level and professional courses a the University Centre Yeovil (UCY) on Preston Road, Yeovil.

History

Preceding the current establishment was a Science and Arts college of which was first founded in 1887 by appointment of Somerset County Council
Somerset County Council
Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county.-Area covered:...

. In 1947 the college re-branded, with the help of their first principal
Principal (academia)
The Principal is the chief executive and the chief academic officer of a university or college in certain parts of the Commonwealth.-Canada:...

, as 'Yeovil Technical College', before finally, in September 1974, becoming the location of an early experimental Tertiary College
Tertiary education
Tertiary education, also referred to as third stage, third level, and post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of a school providing a secondary education, such as a high school, secondary school, university-preparatory school...

, of which Yeovil's was only the third such in the United Kingdom. The experiment was an attempt to see if it was possible to bring all vocational and non-vocational post CSE
Certificate of Secondary Education
The Certificate of Secondary Education was a school leaving qualification awarded between 1965 and 1987 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland....

/O-level non-degree education under one roof.

The current college was constituted from the existing Yeovil Technical College, and the sixth forms of Yeovil School (boys) and Yeovil High School (girls). Two existing sites were used: the old Tech College site (between Ilchester and Mudford Roads) became the main facility, while the nearby Yeovil School site (on Mudford Rd/Goldcroft) became an annexe containing the Science Department, and Business and Secretarial Schools. Subsequent new building eventually enabled the former collage site to be vacated and sold for housing development. Teaching is now concentrated on the site of the former Tech College.

The teaching staff of the new college were also mainly retained from the previous Tech College, while almost the entire science department transferred from Yeovil School, giving the new college an excellent tradition in Science Education. Among other achievements, in its early years (1977 & 1981) the Chemistry Department twice won the annual "BBC Young Scientist of the Year" competition.

Deemed successful, the results of the experiment has given rise to the college in its present form as well as allowing room for expansion. Notably with the introduction of Degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...

 level study at the University Centre Yeovil – In which Yeovil College is in partnership with.

Leonardo Building

The Leonardo Building opened in September 2007 and is a 5.7 million pound development featuring new equipment and dedicated facilities for Design, Art , Engineering, Photography and Media Students. It was officially opened by David Laws
David Laws
David Anthony Laws is a British politician. He is Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Yeovil and former Chief Secretary to the Treasury....

 MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 in November 2007.

Other Facilities

The College also has a beauty salon, Inner Beauty, two hairdressing salons (one in Yeovil, the Hair Zone, the other at the North Dorset Skills Centre, Headstart) and a restaurant, the Da Vinci. All are working, commercial ventures run by students and supervised by staff, and open to the public.

Results

In 2010, A Level results for students studying a full-time programme of at least three A Levels achieved a 99.1% pass rate, down from 95% in 2009 and 100% in 2008. However, results in traditionally difficult subjects including Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Further Maths have remained high and many of the College's recent top results have been in these areas.

In 2010, the full-time vocational pass rate was 95%, down from 97% in the previous year.

Events

There are a number of key events in the College calendar. These include the annual production every February, the Further Education Awards every December, the Arts and Fashion Show in June and Festival Fortnight, featuring departmental awards ceremonies, at the end of the summer term.

Further education

Yeovil College provides education for 16+ students after they leave secondary school, these courses include A-levels, GCSEs, BTEC
Business And Technology Education Council (BTEC)
The Business and Technology Education Council is the British body which awards vocational qualifications. Such qualifications are commonly referred to as "BTECs"....

 Diplomas and the 14-19 Diplomas. The College also offers a variety of part-time courses and apprenticeships, as as well a business training. Yeovil College also offers the Extended Project Qualification and AQA Baccalaureate to particularly able students as part of its Gifted and Talented programme.

Higher education

Yeovil College operates the University Centre Yeovil (UCY) in partnership with Bournemouth University
Bournemouth University
Bournemouth University is a university in and around the large south coast town of Bournemouth, UK...

, the University of the West of England
University of the West of England
The University of the West of England is a university based in the English city of Bristol. Its main campus is at Frenchay, about five miles north of the city centre...

 and the University of Gloucestershire
University of Gloucestershire
The University of Gloucestershire is a university primarily based in Gloucestershire, England, spread over four campuses, three in Cheltenham and one in Gloucester...

. Degree courses are validated by these partner institutions. Qualifications provided include Foundation and Honours degrees, Higher National Diplomas/Certificates, teaching qualifications and professional qualifications. The latter include Chartered Institute of Marketing
Chartered Institute of Marketing
The Chartered Institute of Marketing claims to be the world's largest organisation of professional marketers. It is based in UK with over 40,000 members worldwide. It's headquarters are in Cookham near Maidenhead, CIM offers professional development to marketing practitioners across the world...

, the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply
Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply
The Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply is a global organisation working for the purchasing and supply professions. CIPS is the world’s largest procurement and supply professional organisation. It is the worldwide centre of excellence on purchasing and supply management issues...

 and Institute of Legal Executives
Institute of Legal Executives
The Institute of Legal Executives is the professional body for legal executives in England and Wales and an examination board providing qualifications for legal executives, paralegals and legal secretaries.-History:...

. Additionally the centre offers its own access course and another from the Open College Network
Open college network
The Open College Network is the commonly used term to describe one or more of the 11 regional bodies that together comprise the . NOCN is one of the United Kingdom Awarding Bodies that include Edexcel and City and Guilds....

. The UCY has nursing students and offers a number of unique courses found nowhere else in the country, including a degree in Sustainable Graphics and Packaging and Garden History and Heritage Horticulture. The UCY holds a graduation ceremony every October.

Structure

Following an internal restructuring in 2008, the College is now separated into the following departments of Faculties, each managed by a Faculty Director: Arts, Media and Publishing, Health, Care and Teacher Training, Business and Hospitality, Engineering and Construction, Sport, Hair, Beauty and Complimentary Therapies and Preparation for Life and Work.

Sport

The College nurtures sporting talent and students are selected to play at regional, national and international levels. The College participates in the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) run by the Department for Culture Media and Sport. It also has a number of academies for sports including men's and women's rugby, badminton, football, athletics and cross country, although it has been known to support more specialist sports persons in other areas, such as martial arts. The College is also Inclusive Fitness Initiative accredited Fitness Centre and has recently gained Premier status for Badminton.

Men's football has been particularly successful in the last 5 years, with Yeovil College 1st team finishing Runner-up in the 2006/2007 National College Cup Final.

Student Union

The College has a student union, known as YCSU (Yeovil College Student Union). YCSU organises different events throughout the year from parties and shopping trips to a freshers' fair. Every Yeovil College student is automatically a member. The YCSU is also heavily involved in raising money for local and national charities.

External links

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