Since becoming a sixth form college in 1979, Priestley has grown considerably in both size and reputation. Today, we are proud to welcome around 2,000 learners and offer more than 70 A-Level, T-Level and other Vocational options, giving our students hundreds of possible combinations to create a programme that is right for them.
Our growth has been driven by a simple ambition: to provide young people with the opportunities, support and environment they need to succeed in learning and in life. Over the years, we have invested more than £15 million in our campus, including our Learning Resource Centre, all-weather sports pitch and, most recently, a £1.5 million technology centre with more than 200 computers. We have also extended the Crescent Building to create additional café and study space and modernised our Performing Arts facilities.
However, while our history is important, we are always looking ahead.
We have made great strides in recent years, but we are not a college that stands still. We are constantly looking for ways to improve in order to make the biggest difference to the most number of young people.
That means continuing to invest in our facilities, broaden our curriculum and, most importantly, provide an experience that helps every student to achieve their ambitions and make the most of their time at Priestley.
We are also proud to be part of The Challenge Academy Trust (TCAT). Being part of a wider family of schools and colleges in Warrington gives us the opportunity to work closely with colleagues across the Trust, share ideas and learn from one another. Ultimately, we all have the same goal – to improve opportunities and outcomes for children and young people across our local community.
I hope you enjoy exploring our website and discovering what makes Priestley such a special place to learn.
Paul Willerton
Principal
Our vision
Our mission
Ofsted report
Ofsted praised Priestley’s students and staff following its most recent inspection. Learners, it said, were motivated to achieve and arrive for lessons prepared. Crucially, students speak highly of Priestley’s inclusive culture and are proud to study at a college where they feel safe, cared for and also benefit from a range of extra-curricular activities. The college was recognised for successfully working with stakeholders to design a curriculum that met the skills needs both regionally and nationally. Inspectors said the curriculum was ambitious, carefully planned and logically sequenced. Priestley’s results performance can be viewed here
Genius at work
Joseph Priestley was a man who made a difference to the world of science. He is best remembered for his discovery of the gas that would later be named ‘oxygen’ but wrote famous papers on electricity and invented soda water. In the 1760s he took up a post at the Warrington Academy where he became a tutor of modern languages and rhetoric and later became a fellowship of the Royal Society. Fitting, therefore, that nearly 210 years after his death a college bearing his name has been awarded STEM assured status recognising the quality of teaching of science and maths subjects.
