Welcome from the Principal

I'm delighted that you've visited the College's website and as you've landed on this page, please let me take a few seconds of your time to give you an insight to why we do what we do at HCFE.

The mission of the College is a simple one: Excellence in Further and Higher Education to Transform Students’ Lives. Simply put, we aim to equip our students with the knowledge, skills and qualifications to progress; whether this is directly into the world of work or into higher education.  In addition, we know that knowledge, skills and qualifications on their own are not enough to be successful; so we also aim to ensure our students develop the right behaviours and attitudes to progress.  In equipping students with the right knowledge, skills, behaviours and attitudes our aim is also to ensure our students develop the confidence to exploit the opportunities that exist upon leaving the College.

Learning is effortful and, at times, quite hard - this is a fertile environment for growth, development and improvement.  I’m fully aware of this as in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I studied at a FE college in the Midlands and this transformed my life. I went onto university, the first in my family to do so, and I eventually trained to become a teacher - this was all possible due to education I received at an FE college.

So, whether you want to progress onto university or into the world of work - we want to ensure that the College helps to transform your life.

Thank you for your interest

Darren Hankey, Principal, Hartlepool College of Further Education