Colchester Institute has a long and proud history of offering high quality Higher Education programmes in a range of professional and technical subjects, which lead graduates into successful new careers or enable them to progress in their existing field of work. University Centre Colchester can trace its origins back to 1885, when the Albert School of Art and Design first opened its doors on Colchester’s High Street. By 1912, it had moved to North Hill and was re-named Colchester School of Art shortly afterwards.

From the 1950s onwards, the development of what was to become Colchester Institute mirrored the social and economic changes of the post-war decades. In 1954, the current campus on Sheepen Road was opened, combining the School of Art with the North-East Essex Technical College. 1965 witnessed the introduction of Higher Education courses. By 1976, the organisation had merged with St Osyth College of Education to become Colchester Institute, which now operated on campuses in Colchester and Clacton. The organisational expansion continued with a further merger in 2010, this time with Braintree College, which added a third campus to Colchester Institute’s wider sub-regional presence.