Sandwell College is one of the largest Further Education colleges in the West Midlands.
Close to Britain's second city, Birmingham, the college prides itself on its distinctive cultural mix and cosmopolitan identity in the Black Country borough of Sandwell.
A new £77 million iconic development programme, due for completion in Autumn 2011, will see Sandwell College reaching for the skies, with a new campus towering over Spon Lane at the heart of West Bromwich.
The college currently has three campuses at
Oldbury,
Smethwick and
West Bromwich, catering mainly for 16-18-year-old students, but also for those aged 19 and over. Many of our courses for school leavers have 100% pass rates.
When completed, the new state-of-the-art college will combine a specialist automotive centre, beauty and hairdressing salons, computer suites, construction workshops, engineering laboratories, fashion and photography studios, a sports hall and a theatre – all for up to 10,000 full and part-time students. Trainee dental nurses will practise in an imitation surgery, while Travel and Tourism students will train in a mock-up aircraft cabin.
With more than 400 academic staff and around 6,800 students at the moment, the college concentrates on vocational courses related directly to the world of work, with apprenticeships featuring prominently.
Students can also study at Foundation degree level in Business Management,
Health and Social Care, Early Years Services, Computer Systems Management, or at HNC/HND level in Manufacturing Engineering and Photography.
Each year the college celebrates student success in all subject areas with an Annual Awards Ceremony.
Sandwell’s Student Services Team has been awarded the Matrix Quality Standard for delivering high quality Information, Advice and Guidance, while the Additional Needs Team will do everything possible to help students succeed on their course, by providing specialist dyslexia support for instance.
All of the
campuses are easily accessible via road, rail, bus and metro links. Nearby Birmingham is one of the main transport hubs of the country and, together with Wolverhampton, offers a vibrant club scene.
Sandwell College Students' Union team runs a regular packed programme of activities, from trips to Paris and Premiership stadiums, to paintballing and street dance sessions, to make college life all the richer.
