Central College (Glasgow)

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Central College, formerly Central College of Commerce, was a college in central Glasgow. It opened in 1963 and merged in 2010 with Glasgow Metropolitan College and Glasgow College of Nautical Studies to form City of Glasgow College.

It had links with Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Glasgow and offered courses in Business Studies, Information Technology, Health, Hair and Beauty, Legal Studies (which could lead directly to an LLB), and accounting. The college provided education from certificates to postgraduate level and also delivered training and services to businesses locally and internationally. It offered many full-time vocational 12-month courses for school leavers and ESOL for asylum seekers.

At the time of its closure, Central College had about 2,300 full-time and 6,000 part-time students and around 500 staff. The principal from 2007 was Paul Little. The college’s main campus was at 300 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, near George Square. The seven-storey building, known as the Charles Oakley Building, was designed by Peter Williams and finished in 1963. It, along with the nearby Met Tower, is Grade B listed (listed in 2012) as an example of post-war educational architecture. The Allan Glen Building housed business, legal, accounting and ICT courses, and the Central Business Learning Zone contained IT and examination facilities.

After the merger, the plan was to create a new £300 million “super campus” for City of Glasgow College on Cathedral Street and Thistle Street. Demolition of the Allan Glen site began in 2013, with a new campus completed in 2016.

Historically, the college also offered vocational programs such as the Scottish National Certificates in Distributive Studies in the 1970s–80s and issued its own Certificate in Marketing.