| Administrative History | This college opened in temporary premises in 1840, following a Chester Diocesan meeting in 1839, at which it was decided to establish a training college for schoolmasters. In 1842, the present college buildings were opened in Parkgate Road by W. E. Gladstone, M.P., on a site donated by the Dean and Chapter of Chester Cathedral. Women students were first admitted in 1961 and in the 1970s, it became a college of higher education affiliated to Liverpool University. In 2005 the college was awarded University status, becoming the University of Chester.
Padgate Training College was formally established in 1949 as a college of the School of Education of the University of Manchester to train women teachers. Male students were first admitted in 1957. Teacher training at Padgate was wound up in 1987, by which time the college had become a constituent part of North Cheshire College delivering courses at both Further and Higher Education levels. In 1993, it became the Padgate Campus of Warrington Collegiate Institute and in 1996, for a brief time, the University of Manchester gave the title University College Warrington to the Higher Education faculty at Padgate. The merger of the Higher Education College at Padgate with Chester College of Higher Education was ratified on 1st August 2002. With the award of University status to Chester College in March 2005, the former Padgate Training College became known as the Warrington Campus of the University of Chester |