Belfast Metropolitan College


Belfast Metropolitan College, also known as Belfast Met, is a further and higher education institution in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The college offers both vocational education and academic qualifications. With over 37,000 enrolments and an annual budget in the region of £60 million, it is the largest FE college in the UK and the fourth largest post-secondary institution in the UK.
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History

The college traces its origins back to the beginning of the twentieth century when the Belfast Municipal Technical Institute was established in 1906. It was in a grand building in College Square East, constructed between 1902 and 1906.
College Square East survived the Belfast blitz with students often having to hide in its air-raid shelters during the Second World War.
College Square East was known colloquially as the 'Black Man Tech'. The official name of the college was the Municipal Technical College however it was also known as 'The Tech' and the 'Black Man Tech'. It is often incorrectly perceived that the title ‘Black Man’ comes from the statue of Dr Henry Cooke which currently stands outside the building. However, interestingly, the name 'Black Man' dates back further than Dr Cooke. The original statue on the site and the first public statue in Belfast, was erected in 1855 to commemorate Fredrick Richard, Earl of Belfast. The statue was dark bronze and some say that it was later painted black due to weathering making it look rather mottled. Soon it was known as ‘THE BLACK MAN’ and became one of Belfast's best loved rendezvous spots and noted landmarks in the City. Twenty years later the statue was removed and replaced by that of Dr Henry Cooke. It was taken to the Town Hall Victoria Street and in 1906 removed to the City Hall where it still stands inside the building. It is very common to acquire an affectionate name and in Belfast the 'Black Man' would have been perceived as a place, not a person, where people met and not after the ‘green statue’ of Dr Cooke.
Other specialist colleges were subsequently established in the city including Stanhope Street, Rupert Stanley, and the College of Business Studies in Brunswick Street. In the early 1990s, these colleges amalgamated as the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education which in turn merged with Castlereagh College to form the current Belfast Metropolitan College in 2007.
In September 2011, Belfast Met opened a new £211 million campus in Titanic Quarter. It was officially opened by Princess Anne on 10 November 2011. Michael D Higgins visited several months later.

Campuses

Belfast Met has four campuses; Titanic Quarter, Millfied, Castlereagh and Springvale e3 - with Titanic Quarter campus serving as the main campus of the college.
The city centre campuses at Brunswick Street and College Square East were sold when the Titanic Quarter campus opened in 2011. College Square East was made into student accommodation in 2016 at a cost of £16 million, but it retains its exterior appearance due to being a listed building.

Academic courses

Belfast Met offers both leisure courses and courses leading to qualifications. Courses leading to a qualification are offered at ISCED Level 1 - Level 6.
Below is a list of subject areas courses are offered in:
Millfield
CoursesNotes
Access to University
A-Levels
Art and Graphic Design
Building trades
Child Care
Counselling
Engineering
GCSEs
Health & Social Care
Media
Music
Sport
Support Learning

Castlereagh
CoursesNotes
Biology
Child Care
Computing
Electronic Security
Fashion
Health & Social Care
Motor Vehicle
Tourism

Titanic Quarter
CoursesNotes
Access to University
A-Levels
Animal Care
Beauty
Business & Administration
Computing
Dental Nursing
ESOL
Esports
Fashion
GCSEs
Science

Springvale e3
CoursesNotes
Business & Administration
Hospitality
Journalism
Retail and Sales

Leadership

Louise Warde Hunter, the former Deputy Secretary of the Northern Ireland Civil Service, became Principal and CEO of Belfast Met in April 2020. She replaced Marie-Thérèse McGivern who had been the Principal and Chief Executive of Belfast Met since 2009.

Awards

In April 2020, Belfast Met received the Queen's Anniversary Prize – a UK-wide award recognising excellence, innovation and public benefit in work carried out by UK colleges and universities.

Alumni