Trail marker 3, partnerships with universities.

Partnerships have always been at the heart of Dumfries and Galloway College. Education here has never been about a single building or a single institution. Instead, it has been shaped by collaboration, by working together to create opportunities that would not exist alone. At the Crichton campus, that vision comes to life. Here, further education and higher education sit side by side. College students and university students share the same space, the same landscape, and importantly, the same pathways forward. This idea that learning should be connected has deep roots.

As far back as 1823, Elizabeth Crichton dreamed of creating a university here in Dumfries. While that ambition was never realised in her lifetime, she did establish the Crichton Royal Hospital, a groundbreaking institution known for its progressive approach to mental health care, dignity, and occupational therapies. The Crichton Trust was established in 1996 to promote, regenerate, and care for the estate after it was no longer in use by the NHS. One of its principal aims was to create a centre of education with the hope to finally have a university of our own. Over time, this commitment to learning helped shape what would become a wider educational presence on the site.

In 1999, a major step forward was taken when Bell College and the University of Glasgow began delivering higher education here at the Crichton campus. Shortly after, the University of Paisley, now combined with Bell College as UWS, established a presence on the site. But it was in 2008 when Dumfries and Galloway College moved to its purpose-built campus on the edge of the Crichton campus that something unique truly took shape.

Previous principal of Dumfries and Galloway College, Carol Turnbull, remembers getting the new building ready for its first students:

“It was a huge opportunity, and it really was tremendously exciting, but tremendously stressful as well for everybody involved. And from the management perspective, just getting into the building, getting it opened, I remember the night before we opened, there was many of us there, I think Stephen might even have been there for a while, helping unload chairs and get chairs and everything, set out ready for the students coming in. So it was very tight, but such a huge opportunity with state-of-the-art learning environments and teaching classrooms. It was a real boost to the college, a massive boost.”

For the first time, college and university education were fully connected in one place. Students could begin their journey at college, developing skills, confidence and qualifications, and then progress directly into university study, all without leaving Dumfries and Galloway.

Our current chair of the board, Caroline Stuart, put it in perspective by saying:

“Oh, you may start in college, but you may end up in university finishing with a degree. And so we want to provide those joined up learner pathways and you can do it all in the region and not have to leave.”

It meant that learners of all ages could access further and higher education locally. It allowed people to stay within their communities, continue working and build their futures without needing to move away. It also strengthened the region itself, helping to retain talent, skills and ambition within the region.

Julie Orr, the UWS campus manager explains:

“I think we’re well-recognised now as a place of learning for our local community. I think that we are very approachable and I mentioned earlier about, it’s not just school leavers, but mature learners as well. And the more we can open our doors, the more that we can give opportunities for our communities to support our local NHS, our local health and social care partners, the better really, because we do that by working together. And listening, listening to what they’ve said and seeing what can we come up with to support healthcare within Dumfries and Galloway. As a joint collaboration, not just one institute on their own, we’re all looking at it together.”

The presence of the University of the West of Scotland within the college building itself reflects just how closely these institutions now work together. What was once a vision is now a lived experience, a seamless educational journey from further to higher education. This collaboration is not just about buildings or organisations, it is about people. It is about creating clear pathways. It is about widening access. And it is about ensuring that no matter where someone starts, they have the opportunity to go further.