| Richmond and Hillcroft Adult Community College | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
Parkshot ,, TW9 2RE England | |
| Coordinates | 51°27′52″N0°18′10″W / 51.4644°N 0.3029°W /51.4644; -0.3029 |
| Information | |
| Type | Further education college |
| Established | 1895 onwards – founding institutions 2017 – Richmond and Hillcroft Adult Community College |
| Department for Education URN | 131095Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Principal | Gabrielle Flint |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Age | 16+ |
| Enrolment | 6,700+ (Richmond Adult Community College, 2015)[1] |
| Website | https://www.racc.ac.uk/ |
Richmond and Hillcroft Adult Community College is afurther education college located inRichmond inGreater London. It was established in 2017 by a merger between Richmond Adult Community College and the specialist Hillcroft College.
The college'sRichmond campus traces its roots to the 19th century as a technical institute. In the latter part of the 19th century, there was no reasonable secondary education in or nearBarnes andRichmond with only an elementary education available, except for those who could afford private tuition or send their children many miles to school.Richmond County was to be one of a series of new technical buildings built by thecounty council in Surrey's seven principal towns.[2] The site was opened on 2 July 1895 in Kew Road, Richmond and was fee paying.[3] This building housed both the Technical Institute and secondary school. When the school merged with Sheen Grammar School in 1939 the school moved out of the Kew Road premises leaving the Technical Institute as sole occupants of the Kew Road site.[4]
The technical institute continued up to theSecond World War when it was used as anARP (Air Raid Precautions) and ambulance depot. It was revived as the Technical Institute and School of Art for Richmond and Barnes in 1947 and in 1954 renamed as the Richmond Institute of Further Education. In 1970 it became the Richmond Adult College and in 1978 transferred to the Parkshot site, vacant with the closure ofRichmond County School for Girls and as the Richmond Adult & Community College remains at that site.[4] The college also previously occupied The Clifden Centre inTwickenham, the campus of the former Twickenham County Grammar School for Girls (which became the comprehensive Twickenham Girls' School). The college relocated from the Clifden Centre to the main college campus in September 2014, making way forSt Richard Reynolds Catholic College.[5]
The college's site in Surbiton was previouslyHillcroft College, a residential adult education college for women. Originally called The National Residential College for Women, the college was established in 1920, as a residential college solely for the education of adult women. The college was intended to be a female equivalent toRuskin College inOxford. In this regard, Hillcroft College was unique in the British further education sector. The college was owned and operated by the Hillcroft Charitable Trust. The college's joint founder, and first principal (1929–1933) wasFanny Street. Street was acting principal ofRoyal Holloway College (RHC), University of London, from 1944 to 1945 whenEdith Clara Batho took over.
In September 2017, Richmond Adult Community College and Hillcroft College merged to form Richmond and Hillcroft Adult Community College.[6] In December 2024, the Hillcroft site closed, with all teaching moving to the Richmond site.[7]
The college's campus is situated on Twickenham Road (A316) Richmond, just west of the Richmond Circus roundabout with theA307. It is opposite theOld Deer Park, and just north ofRichmond tube station. The former Hillcroft campus was at South Bank, Surbiton.[8]
The college offers a range of courses includingGCSEs,NVQs andAccess courses. In addition, the college offers some higher education courses in conjunction with theUniversity of Westminster.
