Manchester College of Arts and Technology

Manchester College of Arts and Technology (or for short MANCAT) was a network of further and higher education campuses in the city of Manchester, England specialising in courses in the Arts and Technology, however courses in many other fields were also offered. Over 500 courses were offered at all levels and the college was one of the largest in the Greater Manchester area, with sites at Openshaw, Moston and other locations.^[1] It had around 45,000 students, making it alone one of the largest further education colleges in the United Kingdom.

History

MANCAT was formed in the early 1990s through the merger of North Manchester Community College and Central Manchester College of Technology, with there being seven colleges in the 1980s reduced to four by 1986. Since then it has steadily grown through the acquisitions of other buildings, colleges and sites, including the former Ellen Wilkinson High School in Ardwick in 2000. They first principal was Nye Rowlands, formerly of Central Manchester College, and the First President of the Student Union was Phil McHugh, formerly of North Manchester Community College.^[2]

Merger with City College Manchester

In August 2008 the college merged with City College Manchester to form an 80,000 student 'super-college',^[3] it was announced in April 2008 that MANCAT Principal Peter Tavernor will be Principal of the new supercollege,^[4] this decision was taken after funding bosses claimed that both colleges were competing for students but neglecting others, so a merger was the best way forward, initially there was opposition from governors at City College Manchester but eventually it got the go ahead, the new college is to be called The Manchester College.^[3]

External links

• Manchester College of Arts and Technology Website
• City College Manchester
• The Manchester College

References