University Centre Colchester

Welcome to University Centre Colchester

University Centre Colchester can trace its origins back to 1885, when the Albert School of Art and Design first opened its doors on Colchester’s High Street. By 1912, it had moved to North Hill and was re-named Colchester School of Art shortly afterwards.

From the 1950s onwards, the development of what was to become Colchester Institute mirrored the social and economic changes of the post-war decades. In 1954, the current campus on Sheepen Road was opened, combining the School of Art with the North-East Essex Technical College. 1965 witnessed the introduction of Higher Education courses. By 1976, the organisation had merged with St Osyth College of Education to become Colchester Institute, which now operated on campuses in Colchester and Clacton. The organisational expansion continued with a further merger in 2010, this time with Braintree College, which added a third campus to Colchester Institute’s wider sub-regional presence.
Nils Franke
Dean of Higher Education
In 2016 the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) granted permission for the higher education provision at Colchester Institute to be delivered under the identity of University Centre Colchester. Only a year later, UCC received the prestigious Silver Award for the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). Today, UCC degree programmes cover three distinct areas; the Arts, Social Sciences and Industry & Commerce.
Nils Franke is Dean of Higher Education at University Centre Colchester. Nils has academic, administrative and financial oversight of all Schools in University Centre Colchester and is responsible for the strategic planning of its higher education provision.

What our staff have to say...

"Our department is rich in resources and has access to industry professionals and their experience. I know that my students can utilise my many years of Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management practice to help them better understand and succeed."

Brenda Rich, Lecturer in Construction.
"All students are actively engaged through the process of learning and teaching due to the small class sizes and direct interaction between the class and lecturers. They grow to be professional IT developers with competent teamwork, flying into the IT industry."

Marzieh Farahani, Lecturer in IT Systems and Applications.
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