Cardinal Newman College
View of the college (2019)
Address
Lark Hill Road Preston , Lancashire , PR1 4HD England
Coordinates	53°45′24″N 2°41′16″W / 53.7566°N 2.6878°W / 53.7566; -2.6878
Information
Type	Voluntary aided sixth form college
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Established	1978 (1978)
Local authority	Lancashire County Council
Department for Education URN	130745 Tables
Principal	Nick Burnham
Staff	400
Gender	mixed
Age	16+
Enrolment	3,500
Website	http://www.cardinalnewman.ac.uk

Cardinal Newman College is a Catholic sixth form college close to the centre of Preston, Lancashire, England. The college was graded "outstanding" by Ofsted in February 2023.^[1]

The college was ranked as the best sixth form college in England according to the Sunday Times' analysis of A Level performance for 2011.^[2]

The college has undergone significant new build and refurbishment since 2008. This has included the addition of the newly built St Cecilia’s Building in 2009, the acquisition of the St Augustine’s Centre in 2010, and the St Francis Building in 2015, situated next to the St Mary's Building. The most recent addition was the John Henry building.

History

The college contains Lark Hill House, built in 1797 as private house for Samuel Horrocks, a cotton manufacturer and later Mayor and Member of Parliament for Preston.^[3][4] The house was unoccupied after the deaths of both Horrocks in 1842 and his son four years later, until 1860 when it was sold to the Faithful Companions of Jesus Sisters, to become Lark Hill House School for girls.

The house was modified in 1870, with more classrooms added in 1893, 1907, and 1932. The school was a direct grant grammar school for girls from 1919, known as Larkhill Convent Grammar School. From 1967, the school took in sixth form female students from other Catholic secondary schools around Preston. The introduction of comprehensive schools in Lancashire forced the school to stop admitting under-16 pupils from 1978.

In that year, the Lark Hill sixth form merged with the sixth forms of the other two Catholic grammar schools in Preston, namely Winckley Square Convent School and Preston Catholic College, to form Cardinal Newman College,^[5] named after John Henry Newman. Initially, the sites of all three former schools were used, but within a few years, the college was concentrated at the Lark Hill site.

However, the former Catholic College's playing fields, one mile (1½ km) south of the college, are still used by Newman College.

Football club

At the turn of the 20th century, Newman had a successful football team, and old students often continued to play together after their college years for the nearby Preston Winckley F.C. onwards from 1903, in the Lancashire Amateur League. The league, and subsequently the team, folded in 1911, and led to the creation of a Catholic College Old Boys F.C., changing the name to Newman College F.C. in 1982.

The club has enjoyed varying degrees of success, fielding five teams in 1990/91, but a period of decline saw the club fielding only one team in 2006. A resurgence in recent years has seen the club win the Lancastrian Brigade Cup, with promotion to the Premier division of the Mid Lancashire League and the inclusion of a reserves team following soon after. The club still sports their traditional green and white hoops and after playing on their own Riverside pitch for one hundred years, now play at BAC/EE Preston social and sports club.

Notable former students

• Helen Southworth, former Labour MP for Warrington South^{[citation needed]}
• Sean Haslegrave, professional footballer^{[citation needed]}
• Myles Pearson, Paralympics GB athlete^[6][7]
• Guy Flanagan, actor^[8]
• Julie Atherton, actress^[9]
• Rae Morris, pop singer songwriter
• Hannah Britland, actress^{[citation needed]}
• Dominic Lyne, author^{[citation needed]}
• Cliff Thorburn, snooker player^{[citation needed]}
• Clifford V. Johnson, physicist