Leeds City College

History: On April 1 2009, Leeds City College became a reality as Leeds College of Technology, Leeds Thomas Danby and Park Lane College Leeds & Keighley (three very established colleges in the region) merged to form what is now one of the largest and most influential colleges in the country, offering entry level to higher education courses. It merged again with Joseph Priestley College in 2011.

Address: The college now boasts more than 25 teaching sites across the city, including six main campuses - Horsforth, Keighley, Park Lane, Joseph Priestley and Technology. The new Printworks campus opens this year.

Ambience: Leeds City College is the third largest further education college in the UK - diverse, friendly and busy. The college supports the promotion of equal opportunities and is committed to ensuring that all students achieve their potential. It makes all reasonable adjustments to ensure all students, including those with disabilities and learning difficulties, are treated fairly and get the most out of college life.

Who's the boss? Peter Roberts took over as the new Leeds City College Principal in July 2009, joining from Stockport College. In his seven years at Stockport, Peter Roberts turned the college’s fortunes around to achieve “beacon status”, winning a number of national accolades. Ofsted inspectors praised his “inspiring” and “outstanding” leadership. Peter was deputy principal at York College before this.

Prospectus: 0845 045 7275, view all the courses online here.

UCAS code: L21

Easy to get into? Not hard at all - generally for higher education courses, candidates under the age of 21 should have two A-levels at grade D or above (or equivalent) and three GCSEs at grade C, one being in English. Mature students will be interviewed to assess their suitability for the course. See individual courses for specific requirements.

Foundation degrees: Animal health and welfare; animal management; applied computing; applied networking; business management; children's care, learning and development; education and training; electrical and electronic engineering; financial services; health and social care; learning support; legal studies; managing for social care; manufacturing engineering; pensions administration and management; photography; security management and consultancy; sport coaching and development; teacher training; wildlife management.

Vital statistics: Leeds City College now has more than 50,000 learners studying the massive range of courses on offer, including 27 higher education qualifications such as foundation degrees and BA top-up degrees. HE courses are validated by Leeds Metropolitan University, University of Bradford, University of Huddersfield, University of Teesside, and Edexcel.

Added value: Before the merger, Park Lane College Leeds was one of the first 10 colleges in the country to be awarded Beacon status in 1999, and made the decision not to charge top-up fees in 2007. The new college has links with more than 2,500 companies and strong relationships with major Leeds employers. Student safeguarding at Leeds City College was graded outstanding in the recent 2012 Ofsted report; the College has Matrix-award winning advice and guidance staff on hand to help with any extra support you may need.

Teaching: Good, according to the 2012 Ofsted report. The Engineering faculty and college partnership work were graded outstanding. Many teachers at Leeds City College have worked in industry before becoming qualified lecturers. It has National Skills Academy status for community sport enterprise, creative and cultural skills, food and drink manufacture, hospitality, retail, financial services, and sports and fitness, as well as accolades for printing and computer technology.

Any accommodation? HE students are offered rooms in halls of residence via Leeds Metropolitan University's accommodation service. Rents start at roughly £90 per week.

Cheap to live there? Not bad - rents in student houses range from £65 to £85 per week.

Transport links: Leeds city centre has excellent road, rail and bus links servicing the main Leeds campuses and a direct train service to Keighley. There is also a free city bus in operation which loops around the city, passing the train station, bus station and several college sites every 10 minutes. Leeds Bradford international airport is also nearby.

Fees: £6,200 for those UK and EU residents starting full time HE programmes in 2013 and half that price for part-time students.

Bursaries: A bursary of £1000 is awarded to students with an annual household income of less than £25,000 and £500 for students with a household income of more than £25,000, but less than £42,500 per year.

Nightlife: Leeds has repeatedly been voted the most popular city for students outside London. Leeds is a cosmopolitan city with an excellent variety of shops, bars, clubs and restaurants, and has everything for the music fan (Leeds Festival) through to the sports buff (Headingley and Elland Road stadiums).

Sporting facilities: Horsforth campus is home to most of these including outdoor pitches, while several sites have a gym and Roundhay Road's community sports centre is available for use.

Glittering alumni: None as yet, but the following all studied one of the colleges that formed Leeds City: Spice Girl Melanie 'Mel B' Brown; Kay Mellor, screenwriter, Fat Friends; Brian Deane, former footballer, England and Leeds United; Angela Griffin, actress, Holby City and Cutting It; Brian Turner, celebrity chef; Adil Rashid, cricketer, Yorkshire Country Cricket Club and England; Jamie Jones-Buchanan, rugby player, Leeds Rhinos.