View source for Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College

{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox school
| name         = Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College
| logo         = Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College.svg
<!-- Note: WGS84 lat/long, converted from OSGB36 grid ref -->
| coordinates  = {{coord|52|37|10|N|01|07|24|W|type:edu_region:GB_dim:100|display=inline,title}}
| motto        = Labore et Honore
| established  = 1976
| type         = [[Sixth Form College]]
| religion     = 
| head_label   = Principal
| head         = Paul Wilson
| founder      = Thomas Wyggeston
| address       = University Road
| city         = Leicester
| country      = United Kingdom
| postcode     = LE1 7RJ
| local_authority          = [[Leicester]]
| dfeno        = 856/8601
| urn          = 130756
| ofsted       = yes
| enrollment   = c.2000
| lower_age    = 16
| upper_age    = 19
| colours      =
| publication  =
| free_label_1 = Precursor institutions
| free_1       = [[Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys]]<br />Wyggeston Grammar School for Girls<br />[[Regent College, Leicester|Regent College]]
| free_label_2 =
| free_2       =
| free_label_3 =
| free_3       =
| website      = https://www.wqe.ac.uk/
}}

'''Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College''' ('''{{text|WQE}}''') is a [[sixth form college]], located in [[Leicester]], England. The college is led by Paul Wilson who was appointed the eighth principal in March 2018. The college merged with the nearby [[Regent College, Leicester|Regent College]] in 2018 to form an institution with approximately 3,750 full-time 16–18-year-old students and 140 teaching staff. More than 40 subjects are offered at A Level.

The college was awarded Learning and Skills [[Beacon Status]] in April 2003.

==History==

The college, which has over 3,750 students, was founded in 1976 following a (comprehensive) re-organisation of secondary education in the city. Many other parts of rural Leicestershire had gone comprehensive in 1968.

The college now occupies a site adjoining [[Victoria Park, Leicester|Victoria Park]] and the [[University of Leicester]] that was previously occupied by [[Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys]] (also known as Wyggeston Boys' School).

The school takes the Wyggeston name from the former school and from Wyggeston Grammar School for Girls, which both closed in the 1970s.

In 1976 the site of the former girls' school became Wyggeston Collegiate Sixth Form College, known as [[Regent College, Leicester|Regent College]] between 1996 and 2018, when it merged with Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College.

==Principals==
*Dr G A Thompson – 1978-1994 (also head of the former grammar school from 1968)
*Dr Robert Wilkinson – 1994-2002<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wqeic.ac.uk/news/change_of_principal.htm |title=Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth I College |website=www.wqeic.ac.uk |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030110032501/http://www.wqeic.ac.uk/news/change_of_principal.htm |archive-date=10 January 2003 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
*Ian Wilson – 2002–2012
*Sandra Hamilton-Fox - 2012–2016
*Paul Wilson – 2018–present

==Curriculum==
Courses including AS, A2 and GCSEs are provided at the College. The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma was introduced in September 2006 with 33 students opting for this alternative. The last cohort of the IB completed the course in 2012, and the programme is no longer offered.

===Academic performance===
In 2006 the A Level pass rate was 98 per cent with 45 per cent at grades A and B. About 90% of students progress to higher education, mostly in the Midlands region.

==Notable former students==
{{more citations needed section|date=September 2016}}
* [[Henry Ernest Atkins|H.E. Atkins]] Leading British chess player from 1905 to 1925.
* [[Richard Attenborough]] Actor and film director
* [[David Attenborough]] British broadcaster, biologist and natural historian
* [[Bali Rai]], novelist
* [[Ben Youngs]], Rugby Union player for England and Leicester Tigers
* [[Dan Cole (rugby union)|Dan Cole]], Rugby Union player for England and Leicester Tigers
* [[Shivani Raja]], Member of Parliament<ref name="EastCandidate">{{cite news |last1=Richardson |first1=Hannah |title=Conservatives pick city born and bred candidate to fight for Claudia Webbe's Leicester East seat |url=https://leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/conservatives-pick-city-born-bred-9313544 |access-date=4 May 2024 |work=[[Leicester Mercury|Leicestershire Live]] |date=30 May 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240705105437/https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/conservatives-pick-city-born-bred-9313544 |archive-date=5 July 2024}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.wqe.ac.uk/ College web site]
* [http://www.edubase.gov.uk/establishment/summary.xhtml?urn=130756 EduBase]
* [https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/history/how-revolting-leicester-pupils-marked-1715631 Wyggeston Girls Grammar final day as suffragettes 1967]

{{Leicestershire Schools}}
{{Universities and colleges in the East Midlands}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyggeston And Queen Elizabeth I College}}
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1976]]
[[Category:Sixth form colleges in Leicestershire]]
[[Category:Learning and Skills Beacons]]
[[Category:Education in Leicester]]
[[Category:1976 establishments in England]]