City College Coventry

City College Coventry

Age: 11

History: City College Coventry was opened in February 2002, following the merger of Coventry Technical College and Tile Hill College.

Address: The college's Swanswell Campus is located on the outskirts of the city centre on the junction of Swanswell Street and Stoney Stanton Road.

Ambience: New and exciting. The college completed its move to the Swanswell Campus in 2009, bringing the three previous sites of Tile Hill, Butts and Maxwell Centres onto a new 'brown field' site in the heart of coventry. State of the art in terms of technology, the campus also boasts a 'shop front' style of teaching, showcasing its classes to passers by.

Vital statistics: About 12,000 students (around 2,500 full-time), 500 permanent staff with another 200 part-time teachers at any one time. There are around 100 international students, mainly on English programmes. The college has strong links with Coventry University, Warwick University and Aston University.

Added value: The college has close links with local employers and is a national centre for Passenger Carrying Vehicle (PCV) Engineering. Strong on widening participation: it takes a high proportion of students from disadvantaged neighbourhoods. The new Swanswell Campus boasts brand new computer rooms, refectories, student services and learning resource centres. Every classroom has an interactive whiteboard, projector and internet access. Both buildings are Wi-Fi enabled and have facilities for the disabled.

Easy to get into? Yes – keen on widening participation.

Glittering alumni: Laina Cheng, Clothes Show Live Young Designer of the Year 2004.

Transport links: The college’s main site is close to the city centre, and there are a number of bus routes. The train station is a short bus ride away. Birmingham is close by and Coventry is on the main rail route to London. In the city centre, cycling is a practical option.

Who's the boss? Paul Taylor, principal.

Teaching: A 2007 Ofsted inspection rated the College as good in engineer and manufacturing technologies, equality of opportunity and capacity to improve, and satisfactory in all other areas.

Nightlife: Thriving. The Skydome leisure complex and numerous cinemas, restaurants and entertainment venues are all on offer in the city centre.

Any accommodation? None provided by the college, but international students can be put up with host families nearby, with the College’s help.

Cheap to live there? Yes. Private rents are around £60 a week.

Fees: Fees are due to be released in early August for the commencing year.

Bursaries: The college has received money from the Access for Learning Fund (ALF) to be used to help students fund their HE courses. Students are asked to explore every other funding possibility before approaching the ALF. For more information visit the website.

Prospectus: 0800 616 202; www.covcollege.ac.uk

UCAS code: C64