Exterior of a campus building at Furness College
Electrical engineering students working with equipment at a workbench
Five students pictures outside a campus building at Furness College
A student laying the first course of bricks in a workshop
Furness College logo

Whether you are looking to learn new skills, progress onto a degree, or thinking of a career change, Furness College has it all.

A student using Virtual Reality (VR) equipment on a model of a human body
Students moving through an interior space of a campus building at Furness College

Located in the heart of Barrow, Furness College offers excellent teaching and support in conjunction with world-class facilities. They also have outstanding links with their many employer partners so you can be sure of receiving great opportunities through whichever avenue you choose.

Following our merger with Barrow Sixth Form College, we now offer the largest choice of courses in Cumbria, ranging from professional and technical courses such as CTECs, BTECs, and apprenticeships, through to a range of more than 20 A-Level subjects, new T-Levels, and higher education courses.

At the £47 million Channelside campus, Furness College offer apprenticeships across 20 sectors ranging from accounting to applied science, business to beauty, motor vehicle to construction, and customer services to management.

There are also apprenticeships in early years education, engineering, hairdressing, health and social care, information technology, retail, and team leading.

After completing an apprenticeship, some 90 per cent will stay in employment (including two per cent self-employed), with seven in ten (71 per cent) staying with the same employer. This demonstrates clearly that apprenticeships are a proven way into the world of work.

Furness College’s T-Level offering includes health, education, digital, and science. In addition to this, the college will launch engineering and manufacturing T-Levels in September 2022, helping to bridge the higher-level skills gap across Cumbria.

Furness College are Ofsted-rated ‘Good’ and have also been judged to have outstanding financial health by the Education and Skills Funding Agency which enables the college to continue investing in their world-class facilities.

The college is also one of the first in the country to hold chartered status, recognising them as a leading national performer for further education. Furthermore, their higher education is graded as the best in the county with a silver award under the national Teaching Excellence Framework.

In addition to curriculum developments, there has been significant investment recently across both of Furness College’s fantastic campuses at Channelside and Rating Lane. This further ensures that the quality of the learning environment can match their excellent teaching.

In its leafy environment at Rating Lane, the sixth form has a university feel and a solid reputation for academic excellence. Their Channelside campus provides outstanding technical and vocational facilities, recognised as state-of-the-art by the employers with whom they work.

Outside of the classrooms and workshops, the college also offer a range of extra-curricular opportunities including trips, sports, clubs, guest speakers, work experience, and volunteering opportunities all giving ample opportunity to get involved in community life.

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