Hartlepool art college hailed by Sir Ridley Scott set to change its name

Cleveland College of Art and Design, which has a campus in Hartlepool, is set to change its name in time for the new academic year, it has been announced.

The college - praised by Sir Ridley when he picked up a Bafta Fellowship earlier this year - will be known as The Northern School of Art from September onwards.

The Secretary of State has agreed to the change based on the college’s demonstration of their pre-eminence in art and design education in the North and their status as one of the few remaining specialist art schools in the country.

The art college, which has its Hartlepool campus in Church Street, has roots in the North East going back to the 1870s, formed from the merger of the original Middlesbrough College of Art and Government College of Art in Hartlepool.

While the name of Cleveland College of Art & Design (CCAD) has long since lost its relevance to potential students, as the use of Cleveland has a county name ended in 1996, the college says it views this change as a positive vote of confidence in the Tees Valley, celebrating the strength and quality of teaching for the creative industries.

Sir Ridley, who is now 80, was born in South Shields and took the first steps in his 40-year film-making career when he was educated at West Hartlepool College of Art, which later became Cleveland College of Art and Design.

Pat Chapman, vice principal (employability and external relations), said: “We are absolutely delighted that the Secretary of State has agreed to our name change submission.

“This further recognition of the quality we offer students; less than a year after we received our Gold rating in the government’s Teaching Excellence Framework.

“This change doesn’t mean we are turning our back on our roots - we will continue to serve local students and communities from our twin campuses in Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, but it also recognises that our undergraduates come from across the North and indeed the whole of the UK.

“We want to thank the local organisations and individuals who supported our application to the Secretary of State.

“We also think that this is great news for the north and the Tees Valley - in the year of the Great Exhibition of the North it is wonderful that the strength of training for the creative and cultural sector offered has been so endorsed.”