The College has undergone a major re-development; including the building of a part student-designed English and Politics building, and the Head of Politics Elaine Mulroy has received an award for the top teacher of Politics within England and Wales. Points of interest when visiting the college include:
The Art and Psychology Departments for their imaginative architecture
Extensive Sporting and Gym facilities including several large sports fields.
A brand new £3 million development for Media, Music & Performing Arts opened July 2012. Architects Pick Everard have won Best Education Building Design and Best Overall Design in Wigan for 2012.
Student Union
Winstanley College Students' Union is an independent union and a member of the National Union of Students. The student union is run by the Student Union Executive. Usually, each member of the Student Union Executive is a second-year student, elected by Lower Sixth students, going into the Upper Sixth year.
History
Grammar school
The College began life as Upholland Grammar School, which was founded in 1661. The grammar school moved to its present site on Winstanley Road in Billinge Higher End in September 1953. It had 600 boys and girls in the 1960s and had 750 by 1976. During World War II the grammar school had its own Air Cadet Squadron – 1439 squadron with the headmaster Alfred Maggs BA MSc as the first commanding officer.
Sixth form college
It was renamed Winstanley College in August 1977, and at that time, it ceased to enrol new pupils at age 11, gradually becoming a sixth form college. By September 1981, no pupils remained in the lower forms, and the transformation to a sixth-form college was complete. In early 2009, plans were unveiled for an extensive redevelopment of the grounds, which was subsequently put to the Learning & Skills Council for approval. In mid-2009 the project was shelved for lack of grant funding. Since that time the college has redeveloped the 1950s buildings by replacing its flat roofs , the music block was replaced with a £3m building for media and performing arts which was completed in 2012. A replacement library block and new accommodation for physical sciences and biology were completed in 2014. In March 2019, a new social sciences building was opened, home to sociology, psychology, health and social care and in 2019/20 to the new criminology A level.
Academic performance
A portal to higher education, Winstanley College is at the forefront of the top 10 colleges in the UK in terms of A-level PPS — ranked 1st in the Guardian's country-wide collation of A-Level results in 2010. It was named by the Sunday Times as Sixth Form of the Year in 2012 for consistently achieving excellent A-level results over a long period of time. The report highlights the fact that Winstanley are A-level specialists with the expertise to deliver consistent academic excellence with large numbers of students drawn from a wide area. In 2020, Winstanley college was rated “Good” by Ofsted.
