Huddersfield New College is a former grammar school and current sixth form college located in Salendine Nook on the outskirts of Huddersfield, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. The current Principal is Angela Williams. On 17 May 2016 the college was assessed as 'Outstanding' in all 6 inspection domains following an OFSTED review. They are the first Sixth Form College to receive such an accolade under the new inspection framework.
The college was founded in 1958 when the existing Huddersfield College was merged with Hillhouse Technical School to form a new boys' grammar school at a new campus at Salendine Nook with 950 boys. Henry Ernest Atkins, the chess master, had been Principal from 1909-36. In 1959, the girls-only Longley Technical High School moved to the campus, with a new school called Huddersfield High School also on New Hey Road with 700 girls run by Huddersfield Education Committee. Princess Margaret opened the girls' school on the campus on 14 November 1958. The whole site, including Salendine Nook High School, had cost £1 million. Sir Edward Boyle opened Huddersfield New College on 26 March 1958. The last admission of 11-year-olds was in 1972, and the college then began a gradual transition from a boys only grammar school to a co-educational sixth form college. During the dissolution of the grammar schools under Harold Wilson's watch,, he infamously said that grammar schools would be dismantled over his dead body. However the sixth form college has retained much of the academic-minded ethos of his former school.
Sixth form college
It became a sixth form college when the two grammar schools, Huddersfield New College and Huddersfield High School, gradually merged from 1973. In 1974 it was administered by Kirklees Metropolitan Council until 1993 when funded by the FEFC. In 2001 it was administered by West Yorkshire LSC, whose executive director was Margaret Coleman, a former Principal of the College.
Buildings
More recently, the eastern half of the original 1958 built building has been demolished, and replaced with a modern construction grafted onto the remaining half of the original building. In January 2007 building works commenced to expand the current school to increase capacity. New buildings will house additional classrooms for Geography, Art, Psychology, Textiles, Modern Languages, IT, Media Studies and a new student dining area. Additional expansion to 'The Boiler House' - the current performing arts area is also commencing, yielding increased classrooms a recording studio and a new theatre. There has also been expansion to the sports centre, which now houses: Sports Studies, Travel and Tourism, Sociology, Health and Social Care, Children's Learning, Care and Development. Also a large gym with state-of-the-art equipment, and a large sports hall. In September 2012 the college completed the construction of a £100,000 3G AstroTurf pitch which is also used by the neighbouring Salendine Nook High School.
Academic performance
In October 2011 the college was formally inspected by Ofsted, who praised the college and rated it as "a good college with outstanding features". Ofsted said that the college was showing a lot of improvement year-on-year and that the quality of teaching across all areas was good. All courses have high success rates, and students enjoy their time at the college. On 17 May 2016 the college was assessed as 'Outstanding' in all 6 inspection domains following an OFSTED review. They are the first Sixth Form College to receive such an accolade under the new inspection framework.
