Rugby College Open Event
Welcome to the Rugby College Open Event!
Whether you’re leaving school, searching for an apprenticeship, or looking to upskill with a part-time course, join us at our Open Event to explore your options and see the college in action before making your decision.
Explore Our Courses & Pathways
- *WCG Futures School (Ages 14–16) Proposed introductory pathways in Health & Beauty, Construction Trades, Catering and Hospitality, and Performing Arts. * offering subject to DfE approval
- Further Education (Ages 16–18): Full-time pathways in A Levels, Art and Design, Building Services (Plumbing and Electrical), Business, Catering and Hospitality, Construction Trades (Brick, Carpentry, Construction Skills and Painting & Decorating), Creative Media, Digital and Cyber, Education and Childcare, Engineering, Health, Beauty and Barbering, Health and Social Care, Motor Vehicle, Perfomring Arts, Re-engagement, Public Services, Sport, Supported Learning, and King’s Trust.
- Higher Education (Ages 18+): Degree pathways in Electrical Engineering / Systems and Manufacturing Engineering, and Performing Arts.
- Adult Courses (Ages 18+): Professional upskilling, including Electrical Installation, Function Skills, GCSE Maths and English, plus ESOL courses.
- Apprenticeships (Ages 16+): Full-time pathways and options into Apprenticeships.
What to Expect On the Day
- Talk to Expert Tutors: Get detailed insights into your chosen subject area.
- Tour the Campus: Look around our buildings and industry-standard facilities.
- Get Advice & Guidance: Meet with our Careers Team to discuss your next steps.
Booking & Visitor Information
- Who Needs a Ticket? Please only book one ticket for the prospective student. Family and friends are very welcome to attend as guests without a booking!
- Need Help? If you have any questions before the event, reach out to our Events Team at [email protected].
Benn Hall Rugby Wedding Fayre
Discover a world of enchantment at our Wedding Fayre!
Join us for an unforgettable day filled with wedding inspiration and planning.
Explore a showcase of top wedding exhibitors, from bridal boutiques to photographers, gather ideas for your special day. Enjoy live music, tastings, and expert advice to make your dream wedding a reality.
Do not miss this opportunity to create memories that will last a lifetime.
Save the date and be part of this magical experience!
Made by Hand: Northamptonshire & Rutland Open Studios
The Made by Hand exhibition will highlight the amazing works of five local artists/makers. The exhibition is part of Northamptonshire and Rutland Open Studios and will include demonstrations.
Artists exhibiting include:
Belinda Edwards (hand-built ceramics)
Chris Pegler (spinning/weaving/dyeing)
Jenny Ball (jewellery from silver and found objects)
Steve Davies (printmaker)
Tamsen Flack (ceramics and silk painting).
Visiting artist Brian Dickinson will demonstrate stained glass making on 5th September.
Please note Art at the Alex are open on the following dates within this period:
3-5th September
10-13th September
17-20th September
24-26th September
St. Andrew’s Church: Vestments Exhibition
Step into our church and discover the beauty and history of our vestments. Come and see the garments and learn about their symbolism and the stories they tell. All welcome.
Paula Rego: Visions of English Literature
Paula Rego: Visions of English Literature will present three of the artist’s most ambitious series of graphic works; Jane Eyre, Nursery Rhymes and Peter Pan. Each series will be accompanied by a variety of personal items from the artist, many of which have never been publicly displayed before.
Unseen preparatory sketches, etching plates and Rego’s very own childhood copy of Peter Pan will offer audiences an intimate portrayal of the artist’s lifelong fascination with literature and an insight into how the artist transformed this material into startlingly original, rebellious and unexpected images.
Tripontium Finds from the Stores
More finds from the nearby Roman settlement of Tripontium, recently donated by Rugby Archaeological Society who excavated the site over a forty year period.
𝐔𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐃: The Rugby Art Collection in Full
In this unique exhibition, every artwork from the extensive Rugby Collection is brought together in a rare and powerful moment in the life of the collection.
The exhibition presents over 250 works spanning eight decades of modern and contemporary British art.
With works by internationally recognised figures such as Paula Rego, Lucian Freud, L.S. Lowry, Lubaina Himid and Gillian Wearing, as well as quieter, surprising works from less celebrated artists in their formative periods, this exhibition offers an encounter with a carefully curated collection like no other.
Born in the aftermath of the Second World War, the Rugby Art Collection was shaped not by private wealth but by civic belief. The conviction that art belongs to everyone and has a vital role in public life.
UNVEILED traces post-war optimism, shifting social values and emerging voices – in a collection built on courage and long-term vision rather than fashion or fame.
To find our more, please visit: https://www.ragm.co.uk/unveiled-the-rugby-collection
Art Talk – Laughter and Loss: British Artists in World War Two
To coincide with this exhibition, we are hosting a series of Art Talks focusing on artists with works that feature in our Collection.
Join us from 6.30pm – 8pm, £5 per ticket. Refreshments served from 6pm
Laughter and Loss: British Artists in World War Two
James RussellThursday 19 March
Explore the remarkable achievements of Britain’s official war artists with a lecturer who has curated major exhibitions on two of them: Eric Ravilious (1903-42) and Edward Bawden (1903-89).When Kenneth Clark set up the War Artists scheme in 1939, he hoped to employ British artists and keep them safe. In this wide-ranging lecture we follow the fortunes of those chosen, from Eric Ravilious, Edward Bawden and Edward Ardizzone to Laura Knight, Stanley Spencer and Graham Sutherland. We will see how the experience of war inspired different artists, examine some of the striking artworks created during the conflict, and commemorate the lives of those who did not come home.
To book, please visit: http://ragm.co.uk/unveiled-the-rugby-collection
Art Talk – Barbara Hepworth: Drawing and a particular kind of ‘bite’
To coincide with this exhibition, we are hosting a series of Art Talks focusing on artists with works that feature in our Collection.
Join us from 6.30pm – 8pm, £5 per ticket. Refreshments served from 6pm
Barbara Hepworth: Drawing and a particular kind of ‘bite’
Dr Stephen FeekeThursday 16 April
Being primarily a carver of stone and wood, Barbara Hepworth (1903-75) liked to draw on surfaces that had ‘bite’, which she scraped and rubbed as if they were a sculpture. Until relatively recently, Hepworth’s paintings and drawings have been comparatively neglected aspects of her practice amongst scholars and curators. Yet working in two dimensions was fundamental to Hepworth’s œuvre and she produced more than 500 examples at various moments across her career, including some of the most inventive and surprising pieces she ever made. Starting with Ruby’s Three Groups of Figures on a Pink Ground (1949), in this lecture I shall focus on some such examples from the various thematic groups Hepworth explored, including figurative life studies, abstractions and landscapes and will consider how they related to her main preoccupations and concerns.
To book, please visit: http://ragm.co.uk/unveiled-the-rugby-collection
