Crewe - Education

Education

Cheshire has adopted the comprehensive school model of secondary education, so all of the schools under its control cater for pupils of all levels of ability. Until the late 1970s Crewe had two grammar schools, Crewe Grammar School for Boys, now Ruskin Sports College and Crewe Grammar School for Girls, now King's Grove High School. The town's two other secondary schools are Sir William Stanier Community School, a specialist technology and arts college, and St. Thomas More Catholic High School, specialising in mathematics and computing and modern foreign languages.

Although there are eight schools for those aged 11–16 in Crewe and its surrounding area, South Cheshire College is one of only two local providers of education for pupils aged 16 and over, and the only one in Crewe. The college also provides educational programmes for adults, leading to qualifications such as Higher National Diplomas (HNDs) or foundation degrees. In the 2006-07 academic year 2,532 students aged 16–18 were enrolled, along with 3,721 adults.

Manchester Metropolitan University's (MMU) Cheshire Faculty has one of its two campuses in Crewe, in a part of town which has been rebranded as the University Quadrant. The second campus, about 6 miles (9.7 km) away in Alsager, is being moved to Crewe over the next few years as of 2009, as Crewe becomes the university's Cheshire base for courses in business and management, the arts, exercise and sport science, humanities and social studies, education and teacher training. Initial expansion of the Crewe campus to accommodate the extra students and staff included the opening of a £30-million student village in 2005, part of an estimated £70 million investment being made in the campus.