Cardinal Newman College reveal expansion plans

A Preston sixth form college has unveiled plans for a major extension designed to help deal with a shortage of space and ever-increasing demand for places.

Cardinal Newman College hopes to create a new two-storey teaching block on what is currently a car park at its campus off Herschell Street.

The new premises are needed to accommodate an expected 5,000 students by the end of the decade – a near six percent increase on the 4,727 currently enrolled at the popular establishment.

According to a blueprint submitted to Preston City Council planners, the college is “beginning to experience shortfalls in core teaching and ancillary spaces…due to increasing student numbers” – which grew by just over 10 percent between 2022 and 2025.

The current facilities – which are spread across a number of sites and are made up of 11 existing buildings – fall below the per-student space guidelines recommended by the Department for Education.

Under the plans lodged with the town hall, the new block would sit directly behind the St. Teresa building and take up half of the car park on which it would be constructed.   The remainder of the plot would then be reconfigured to provide 16 new parking bays, resulting in an overall loss of 26 spaces.    

Planning documents state that the new development would “strengthen the academic core of the site and improve the relationship between the St. Augustine and St. Teresa buildings”. 

They add:  “The College’s strategy is to introduce a purpose built…block that enhances connectivity across the campus and creates a more coherent movement pattern between the upper and lower levels. 

“The new building will form a natural link between adjacent teaching facilities and will sit within an improved landscaped setting, contributing positively to the student experience and overall campus environment.”

College principal, Nick Burnham, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service:  “This planning application reflects the college’s continued commitment to invest in the very best facilities for students.

“It builds upon last year’s successful opening of the St Catherine building, an outstanding specialist facility for media, film and the arts, and St Raphael’s, a building next to the college lake, dedicated to student wellbeing and pastoral support. 

“The college is really proud of the quality of its facilities and its beautiful campus and this new investment will be another great addition.”

An upper-level entrance will form the main arrival point for students, aligned with the existing pedestrian route that runs from the St. Augustine building and the wider campus past the front of St. Teresa building. That will enable students to enter the new block at “the natural upper level of the site without passing through the lower car park”, the plans explain.

The initial proposal had been for the new building to be three-storeys tall, but that vision was later revised.