West London College (further and higher education)


West London College is a further and higher education college based across four campuses located in Park Royal, Ealing, Hammersmith and Southall districts of London, England. The college provides training and development for over 20,000 students from entry level to postgraduate, and is a member of the Collab Group of high performing colleges. The main campus of the college is situated on the north side of the busy A4 dual-carriageway, between Hammersmith and Earls Court.

Achievements and Awards

In its most recent inspection, Ofsted rated the college as "Good" for overall effectiveness. The college is a Beacon Status College, awarded by the Quality Improvement Agency. In 2008, the International Centre at the college was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade. In 2012, West London College became the first Further Education college in London to receive the 'AoC Charter for International Excellence’. The charter is awarded to FE colleges that show a strong commitment to quality assurance and implement an ethical approach to all aspects of their international activities. In 2017, the college won the Times Educational Supplement FE Award for Outstanding use of Technology for Teaching, Learning and Assessment.

History

In 1881, Hammersmith School of Art was established in Brook Green. There was also the Hammersmith College of Art and Building located in Lime Grove, Shepherds Bush. This college ran an Architecture course accredited by the RIBA and an Interior Design course. There were also facilities and studios in which were taught textile design, ceramics, sculpture and print-making. The 'building' side of the college included workshops in which the traditional building trades were taught, including plumbing, welding, plastering and brick-laying. The 'cross-discipline' opportunities that the close proximity that these departments afforded students was deliberate. That the sculpture students could learn from the welding classes and the interior design students from the textile design students and the architecture students from the building trades apprentices was a recognized benefit of the graduates of the Hammersmith College of Art and Building. In 1970 the Architecture department of Hammersmith College of Art and Building merged with Woolwich Polytechnic to form Thames Polytechnic, which in 1993 became the University of Greenwich. The architectural teaching staff included Arthur Korn. Ealing Grammar School for Boys was opened in 1913 as Ealing County School and expanded in 1936, also known as Ealing County Grammar School. It had the Ealonian Hall. In 1974, Ealing borough adopted the comprehensive education system and the school became Ealing Green High School, a boys' school. In 1992, the school was taken over by the new Ealing Tertiary College. In January 2002, Hammersmith and West London College merged with Ealing Tertiary College to form Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College.

Hammersmith Campus

Hammersmith is the largest campus, with over 10,000 students. The College offers a large number of full-time and part-time courses across a broad range of subjects for students of different ages, abilities and needs.
The College was designed by the Greater London Council Architects’ Department, under the supervision of Bob Giles, the project architect, in a Brutalist style inspired by Alvar Aalto's Säynätsalo Town Hall. The construction was completed in 1980.
In May, 2018, the Hammersmith campus, facing financial shortages, applied for permission to demolish the existing campus and redevelop as a luxury residence block, with a new facility within the redeveloped block to house the college. The local community, led by architect Giles himself, valuing the architectural heritage of the existing structures, organized to oppose the development. As of January 2020, the matter remained unresolved.

Park Royal Campus

The Park Royal campus specialises in Construction Crafts, Carpentry & Joinery, Plumbing and Electrical installation and offers various construction courses which are delivered in purpose-built workshops. The Carpentry section has been hugely successful in skill build competitions over the years.

Ealing Campus

Offers a range of full-time post-GCSE, academic and vocational courses, as well as tuition in ESOL and English as a Foreign Language. Recent refurbishments have significantly improved the Sixth Form Centre and a new £11.5m specialist centre, the Ealing Institute of Media, was launched in December 2005. It is situated in the former Ealing Green High School.

The Institute of Media at Ealing Campus

Opened in 2006 by former BBC Director-General Greg Dyke, The Ealing Institute of Media is a Centre of Vocational Excellence in Media. It is also part of the Skillset Screen Academy group. It was established to provide tailor-made courses that offer both vocational experience and education, along with the adequate amount of theory to provide students with what they need to have a successful career within the media industry.
Courses include the new Actor Prepares Bollywood acting school, standalone subjects such as Animation, Photography, and other areas at GCSE or Advanced Level. The college also offers BTEC qualifications that allow students to learn a wide variety of industry specific skills rather than just a small area.
The Ealing Institute of Media includes EIM Productions, a professional production company offering film and photography services to the college and external clients.

Southall Campus

Students also have access to the Southall Sports Centre run by the London Borough of Ealing, the Sixth Form Centre, and separate facilities for adult learning and a vocational centre.

Former teachers