Belfast Metropolitan College: Courses, Admission, Cost

Belfast Metropolitan College is known to be the largest higher education institution in Northern Ireland. The college was formed in 2007 after a merger of the Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education and Castlereagh College. The origin of the college dates back to the 1900s with the opening of Municipal Technical Institute in 1906. The college offers full-time, part-time and apprenticeship courses in a number of fields of study, such as administration, business and finance, counselling, journalism, engineering, fashion and textiles and science.

Also, there are a number of sub-divisions under full-time, part-time and apprenticeship courses such as leisure, essential skills, A-level, vocational, and access. The college comprises four campuses, namely Titanic Quarter, Millfield, Castlereagh and Springvale. The Titanic Quarter is known to be the largest as well as the flagship campus of the college. The campus comprises historic maritime landmarks, film studios, and entertainment facilities, such as The Odyssey and Titanic Belfast. The campus has essential facilities, including an art classroom, library, conference and multimedia centres, training, demonstration and bakery kitchens, a cafeteria, industrial sewing and craft workshops, science laboratories, beauty and hairdressing salons, a fitness suite and a fine dining restaurant.

The Millfield campus is located in the central part of the city and comprises a number of facilities such as classrooms, an audio recording studio, a television studio, a graphic design studio, a photographic studio, a dark room, a journalism classroom, a broadcast journalism computer suite, fine arts rooms, an art and pottery area, a life drawing room, a print studio, an electronic communication room, electrical testing labs, a joinery workshop, a plastering workshop, a bricklaying workshop and a motor vehicle workshop.

The Castlereagh campus is situated in South East region of Belfast and offers numerous vocational courses with facilities, such as a gym hall, fitness suite, motor vehicle workshop, heating and ventilation workshop, training restaurant, training kitchens, a dressmaking and tailoring workroom, and a pottery room with double kiln. The Springvale campus is situated on 398 Springfield Road and comprises facilities such as a 3D animation suite, soundproofed recording studio, news and radio studios, sound and vision, audio and post production facilities, a workshop for the testing and demonstration of renewable energy, an advanced manufacturing and materials facility including a composites autoclave, a hatchery for the development of business ideas and nine business incubation units.

The alumni of the college include many renowned names, such as newsreader John Irvine, footballer Danny Blanchflower, actor Colin Morgan and TV personality Eamonn Holmes, Joseph Tomelty Northern Irish character actor and playwright, and television presenter and actor Aidan Browne.