About Us

Mission Statement

“To enable people, communities and organisations to succeed through learning.”

Gateshead college will support and contribute to the region’s economic competitiveness, social and cultural well being by improving skills and creating opportunities for achievement for all members of the community.

We deliver this Mission Statement through an internally developed set of six value statements. These values will inform and determine the culture of Gateshead college, and they represent what the Board and the staff of the college stand for – how we want to undertake our work and how we want to work together as a team of professionals.

Core Values

The College's Strategic Aims

Information About the College

Gateshead College is a large general further education (FE) college. The college operates from a main site based at Durham Road with specialist centres at Team Valley and Gateshead International Stadium. The population of Gateshead is approximately 200,000. There are some rural areas of relative affluence, however, Gateshead is ranked the 32nd most deprived district in England out of a total of 354 districts. Unemployment in the borough, at 4%, is above the national average of 3.4%. All age groups have lower economic activity rates than the national average, with people who are aged 16 to 19 or 50-plus having particularly low participation rates in employment. The traditional heavy manufacturing base of the area is currently being replaced by creative businesses and a developing service-based economy with strong business, financial and public sectors.

In the Borough of Gateshead, there are ten secondary schools, of which eight have sixth forms, and a City Technology College. Within a 15-mile radius of the college there are seven other FE colleges and four universities. The percentage of students remaining in full-time post-16 education is 67%, compared with a national average of 72%.

The total number of students in 2004/05 on College courses funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) was circa 20,000, of whom 1350 were full-time students aged 16 to 18 and 450 were full-time adult students. The remainder were part time. 4% of students came from minority ethnic groups compared with 1.6% of people living in Gateshead, and 57% were female. Some 46% of students are recruited from areas with social and economic disadvantage.

In 2004/05, the college offered provision in all of the areas of learning. The college also provides a work-based learning programme in a variety of disciplines. A higher education (HE) programme is also offered. Motor vehicle and logistics are recognised Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVE); and the college is a partner in a Work-Based Learning (WBL) CoVE in Business and Management. The college works with local schools to share aspects of provision for students aged 16 to 19 and offers an alternative curriculum for students aged 14 to 16.