Kingston College is a College of Further, Higher and Adult Education based in Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, England. It has four campuses in the town of Kingston. The main campus is the tallest building in the town and is based on Kingston Hall Road. The second campus is based on Richmond Road and is primarily used for the Arts. The third campus is at Anstee House on Wood Street and houses the Fashion and Media curriculum areas. The fourth, Drapers Court, is adjacent to Kingston Hall Road. In February 2013, Ofsted awarded Kingston College Grade 2 – ‘Good’, making the College one of only a few London colleges with rising academic standards. As of 2018, Kingston College is part of the South Thames colleges group which also runs Merton College and Carshalton college.
History
The origins of the College go back to 1899, when the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames built Science and Art Schools and a Technical Institute on the present main site of the College in Kingston Hall Road. The Victorian home of Kingston Technical College survived till the 1960s, when major reconstruction work followed a local reorganization of further and higher education. In 1962 Kingston Technical College split into the present college of further education and a college of technology, now Kingston University. So as to respond to growing student demand, Kingston College has over the past few years broadened the range of courses on offer.
Principal
Peter Mayhew-Smith.
Schools
The College is organised into 6 Schools:
School of Care
School of Creative Industries
School of Commercial Services
School of Digital Industries, Business, and Science
School of Engineering
Sixth Form School
Arena
Arena is a gym and sports complex available to the students of Kingston College as well as employees of Kingston Council. The facility is adjoined to the Kingston Hall Road Campus. The College uses these facilities for their Dance and Sport classes during the regular timetabled day.
Theatre
The College also houses two theatres with the main being the Arthur Cotterell Theatre which the drama faculty uses to stage productions.
Anstee House Centre
The Anstee House is a building dedicated to fashion and media students. It provides a fully equipped printed textile studio and industrial knitting machines, allowing for the further development of textile design within the National Diploma and Degree programmes. It is located at Wood Street, Kingston upon Thames. Lately, there are further plans to create a TV studio space to help create an industrial environment for the students.
