Gateway College
| Type | FE college |
|---|---|
| Principal | Suzanne Overton-Edwards |
| Location | Colin Grundy Drive Hamilton Leicester LE5 1GA England  Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Local authority | Leicester |
| Gender | Coeducation |
| Website | Gateway College |
Gateway Sixth Form College is a sixth form college in Hamilton, Leicester, England.
The college used to be housed in the city centre of Leicester, adjacent to the main campus of De Montfort University. It has since moved to a brand new, £33 million campus built in the Hamilton suburb of the city.
History
It began as Gateway Grammar School for boys. It was founded in 1928 and located in Skeffington House which is now the home of the Newarke Houses Museum. The school was established primarily to feed the Colleges of Art and Technology (later Leicester Polytechnic and now De Montfort University) and the curriculum showed a significant bias towards Craft and other practical subjects. In 1933 it moved across the road to the site it occupied until 2009, which comprises a three-storey house dating from 1772 with a purpose-built extension and additional buildings for Science and Art & Design. Its first Head Master (1928-31) was Harold Dent who went on to become Editor of The Times Educational Supplement and Professor of Education at the University of Sheffield. Dent was succeeded by Mr E C White (1931-1952) and then Dr H Frazer (1952-71). In Dr Frazer's time The Gateway (as it was known by locals) became more like a conventional grammar school but retained its commitment to teaching crafts. It was also progressive in its acceptance of 11+ exam "failures" at 13+ and 15+: some of whom achieved distinction and are among those listed in alumni below. Mr M H Bailey (1971-1990) saw the school through its transformation into a mixed sixth form college in 1976. After Mr Bailey's retirement the College Principals were Mr A Sortwell (1990-97) and Mr N A Goffin (1997-2009). The current Principal is Ms S. Overton-Edwards.
Courses
The student body consists of approximately 1,200 students aged 16–18 and 400 adult students. The college is highly diverse with 75% of all learners from minority ethnic backgrounds.
Alumni
Gateway Grammar School
- Damon Buffini, head of private equity firm, Permira
- Gregory Clarke, Chairman of The Football League since 2010, CEO of the Lend Lease Corporation from 2002 - 2009, CEO of Cable & Wireless from 1999-2000
- Peter Coley, leader of the Lib Democrats on Leicester City Council
- Maj-Gen Ian Dale CBE, Director General Land Equipment
- Mark G. Darlison, Professor of Neuroscience, Edinburgh Napier University
- David Fish, Chairman of United Biscuits 2004-
- Colin Greenhalgh CBE, Principal of Hills Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge from 1984-2002
- John Souter, Chief Executive Officer of London Internet Exchange, co-author of "Portable Modula-2 Programming" and member of the editorial board of Software Quality Journal.
- Harold Hopkins, physicist who developed the zoom lens, and did significant work on fibre-optics
- Prof Trevor Stuart, Professor of Theoretical Fluid Mechanics, Imperial College London from 1966-94, President of the London Mathematical Society from 2000-2
- Rear-Admiral John Warsop CB, Naval Base Commander of HMNB Portsmouth 1983-5
- Colin Wilson, writer
- Matt Lloyd (Paralympian) (ice sledge hockey)
- Peter Souter, former executive creative director of Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, and author of TV series Married Single Other
- Tony Francis - television sports journalist and producer
- Malcolm Clarke: composer/producer BBC Radiophonic Workshop
- Trevor Tansley: Prof Eng Macquarrie Uni, Australia
- Tom Rand: Oscar-nominated costume designer, French Lieutenant's Woman
- John Wilmin: designer and silversmith
- Christopher Hammond: Prof Eng, Leeds Uni.
- Tony Selvidge: original keyboard play of prog rock band Yes (as Tony Kaye)
- Henry Lowther: jazz & classical trumpet player
