Holy Cross College & University Centre
Address
Manchester Road Bury, Greater Manchester , BL9 9BB England
Coordinates	53°35′05″N 2°17′57″W / 53.5848°N 2.2991°W / 53.5848; -2.2991
Information
Type	Further Education College
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Established	1878 (renamed 1979)
Founder	Daughters of the Cross of Liège
Local authority	Bury
Department for Education URN	130499 Tables
Ofsted	Reports
Principal	Carina Vitti
Gender	Mixed
Age	16 to 19
Enrolment	c. 2,000
Affiliations	Maple Group
Former pupils	Old Crucians
Website	www.holycross.ac.uk

Holy Cross College is a coeducational Roman Catholic Sixth Form College, for students aged 16 and above, situated in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. Originally founded by the Daughters of the Cross in 1878, the college also became a University Centre in 1999.

The college has been regarded as one of the top 10 sixth form colleges in the United Kingdom: being placed eighth on the list in 2007 and second in the country in 2008.^[1]

History

The college was founded, in 1878, by the Catholic religious order, the Daughters of the Cross of Liège, as a private school and the religious sisters later expanded their foundation to become a larger girls convent grammar school in 1905 (when it became known as the Bury Convent Grammar School).^[2]

In 1979, the school became a coeducational sixth form college and adopted its present name, Holy Cross College. It also became a University Centre in 1999. At present, the college has c.2,000 sixth form students and 600 undergraduate students.^[2]

Facilities

The college comprises a complex of several buildings.

The Kentigern Building which provides teaching and learning facilities to accommodate a number of different subject areas. This building also contains the new College Chapel.^[3]

The Maureen Haverty Building which houses the Art and Design Department.^[3]

The College Library which also has an astronomical Observatory.^[3]

The college buildings also include a Café for the use of staff and students.^[3]

Admissions

Holy Cross College offers education, for pupils aged from 16 to 19, including A Levels and BTEC qualifications as well as a selection of undergraduate degrees.^[4]

Academic performance

Holy Cross College entered the top 10 sixth form colleges in the United Kingdom: being placed eighth on the list in 2007, and placed second in the country in 2008.^[1] In 2010, it was voted a 5-star best small company to work for.^[5]

Students from the college regularly gain places at the Sutton Trust 13 universities (Cambridge, Imperial, Oxford, LSE, UCL, York, Warwick, Bristol, Nottingham, St Andrews, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Durham) and around 85% of students enter into some form of Higher Education.^[6] The college also has close educational links with Heidelberg College, in Tiffin, Ohio, United States. The college is also a member of the Maple Group, which is a partnership, created in 2013, of some of country's leading sixth form colleges.^[7]

Notable alumni

• Anna Friel - actress (Brookside, Pushing Daisies).^[8]