Ashford_College

Ashford College

Ashford College

Further education, higher education school in Ashford, Kent, England

Ashford College is a further education college in Ashford, Kent[1] founded in August 2014. It has been run by EKC Group since April 2020,[2] when it was acquired from the West Kent and Ashford College corporation.[3] Susan Bonett became Principal of the College in 2021, replacing Victoria Copp-Crawley.[4] Its campus is situated on Elwick Road[5] with work to expand the facilities beginning in 2022 after receiving substantial government funds.[6]

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The college offers full and part-time qualifications, from vocational BTEC and NVQ Diplomas, to Access to HE courses, Apprenticeships and Higher Education programmes. The college is also an early pioneer of the T Level qualifications, with the first courses running from September 2022.[7]

The campus has a multi-media learning resource centre, engineering workshops, photography studios and darkrooms as well as commercial hair and beauty salons offering treatments to students, staff and the general public.

Ashford College relocated from its original location on Jemmett Road to Elwick Road in September 2017[8] after a £26 million construction project. The current campus accommodates over 1000 students but will cater for an additional 250 once Phase 2 is built.

A state-of-the-art recording studio was launched in June 2018, available to students and public hire. The 40-channel facility was officially opened by Eastenders star Shaun Williamson.[9]

History

Ashford College was founded in 2014 as a result of the split of K College.[10] Prior to this, the Jemmett Road campus was part of South Kent College. Following a 2008 KPMG report that recommended a merger, South Kent College joined West Kent College in April 2010 to form South & West Kent College, which traded as K College. The college campus location has changed from Jemmett Road, to Elwick Road after a new, multi-million pound campus was built.[11]

It was announced in November 2021 that Ashford College's bid for the government's Post-16 Capacity Fund had been successful.[12] The multi-million pound injection was to increase capacity by 250 students through the eventual completion of the College's 'Phase 2' development. This will see an additional wing constructed to house Information Technology, Engineering and Business classrooms alongside extended College administration facilities.

Courses

The college offers a number of full and part-time qualifications, from vocational BTEC and NVQ Diplomas, to Access to HE courses, Apprenticeships and Higher Education programmes, alongside short courses, in subjects such as:

  • Engineering
  • Early Years
  • Health and Social Care
  • Catering and Hospitality
  • Information Technology
  • Construction: Electrical Installation, Plumbing, Gas
  • Music Technology
  • Photography
  • Art and Design
  • Supporting Teaching and Learning
  • Beauty Therapy, Hair Design
  • Business and Accounting
  • ESOL
  • GCSE English and Maths

It was announced in 2021 that the vocational T Level Qualifications would also be introduced to Ashford College with the first courses beginning in September 2022.

The college is looking at introducing a media course from September 2023.

References

  1. [1]
    "Ashford College (official website)". Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  2. [2]
    "EKC Group Welcomes Ashford College and Canterbury Spring Lane Onboard". Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  3. [3]
    "Hadlow break-up hits two month delay due to 'complexity'". 3 April 2020.
  4. [4]
    "Ashford College - Susan Bonett". Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  5. [5]
    "Ashford College Our Campuses (official website)". Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  6. [6]
    "College expansion set to cater for 250 extra students". Kent Online. 9 November 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  7. [7]
    "Ashford College - T Levels". www.ekcgroup.ac.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  8. [8]
    Price, Chris (12 March 2015). "New Ashford College set to go ahead after getting full-funding for £16m new home". KM. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  9. [9]
    Twitter https://twitter.com/ashford_college/status/1009089152145657857. Retrieved 8 February 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  10. [10]
    Price, Chris (1 August 2014). "K College had "a perfect storm" of financial and leadership issues reveal Hadlow College and East Kent College, who have formally taken over the sites". Kent Messenger. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
  11. [11]
    "New college open for business". Kent Online. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  12. [12]
    "College expansion set to cater for 250 extra students". Kent Online. 9 November 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2022.


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