Preceding the current establishment was a Science and Arts college of which was first founded in 1887 by appointment of
Somerset County Council. In 1947 the college re-branded, with the help of their first
principal, as 'Yeovil Technical College', before finally, in September 1974, becoming the location of an early experimental
Tertiary College, only the third such in the United Kingdom. The experiment was an attempt to see if it was possible to bring
A-level and
vocational education under one roof. The current college was constituted from the existing Yeovil
Technical College, and the sixth forms of
Yeovil School (boys) and
Yeovil High School (girls). Two existing sites were used: the old Tech College site (between Ilchester and Mudford Roads) became the main facility, while the nearby Yeovil School site (on Mudford Rd/Goldcroft) became an annexe containing the Science Department, and Business and Secretarial Schools. The subsequent new building eventually enabled the former college site to be vacated and sold for
housing development. Teaching is now concentrated on the site of the former Tech College. The teaching staff of the new college were also mainly retained from the previous Tech College, while almost the entire science department transferred from Yeovil School, giving the new college an excellent tradition in Science Education. Among other achievements, in its early years (1977 & 1981) the Chemistry Department twice won the annual "
BBC Young Scientist of the Year" competition. Deemed successful, the results of the experiment has given rise to the college in its present form as well as allowing room for expansion, notably with the introduction of
Degree level study at the University Centre Yeovil. ==Leonardo Building==