The North Shropshire College can trace its history back to 1909 when the first formal evening classes were held in Oswestry. The demands of the local mining and railway industries led to the establishinent of the King Street Institute in 1921. 1n 1958 it became the Oswestry College of Further Education and moved to one of its present sites in College Road. Tertiary re-organisation in 1978 saw the creation of Oswestry Tertiary College. By the late 1980s the work of the College had extended well beyond the Borough of Oswestry and it was renamed The North Shropshire College in 1991.

At the end of the second millennium The North Shropshire College has 3 main campuses, College Road and Upper Brook Street in Oswestry and Talbot Campus in Whitchurch. Each year the College enrols between 650 and 700 full-time students, predominantly aged 18 &19 years and around 10,000 part-time students who are mainly aged 25+. Over 250 different qualifications can be gained at the College ranging from basic entry to postgraduate levels. In addition to its educational activity, as one of the larger employers in the area, the College also makes an economic impact. It has been formally recognised as an "Investor in People" and in 1999 there are about 170 full-time employees and over 150 working part-time. 'Mereside', the College's wholly owned trading subsidiary, manages most of the College's work with companies and a range of Government-sponsored programmes. In addition it co-ordinates the response of all Shropshire's colleges to the Government's " New Deal" initiative.

During the early 1990s the Government encouraged colleges to grow rapidly and The North Shropshire College responded positively making provision to employers throughout England from Northumberland to the south coast. A change of Government in 1997 saw the focus changed with much more emphasis being placed upon work within the immediate local communities of each college. The North Shropshire College has again responded positively and has created a wide range of partnership activities with Shropshire based groups. A federated college agreement was signed in 1997 with Staffordshire University which further strengthened a long-standing partnership with that institution.

Each year the College attracts a number of international students some of whom are recruited as a result or the links which have been made with institutions in France, Germany, Spain, Finland and Russia. The vision of The North Shropshire College is "to be regarded as the natural first choice for postschool education and training" in its area. Its students consistently perform well in external examinations, regularly placing the College in the top 5% of all further education colleges in England and Wales. Having served Oswestry and its environs well during the latter part of the second millennium, The North Shropshire College looks forward to making an even bigger contribution in the third.

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