Early History

CENTRA’s origins date back to 1839, when it was formed as the Union of Lancashire and Cheshire Institutes (ULCI), one of Britain’s first vocational examining and training bodies for the new commercial and industrial sectors evolving in the industrial heartland of the northwest in the early nineteenth century.

ULCI / CENTRA is one of the oldest education associations in the country – it pre-dates the Board of Education and Local Education Authorities

ULCI started to examine in 1847 – the Royal Society of Arts did not start until 1854 and City & Guilds until 1879. In the mid-nineteenth century, Lord Beaconsfield, Charles Dickens and William Gladstone were actively involved on the Council of ULCI.

In 1939, to mark the centenary of the Union, King George VI became its patron.

By 1939, 176,000 students were attending part-time classes organized by local authorities in the Union and the number of candidates presented for ULCI examinations was 36,000 (98,000 subject entries)

More recent history

The ULCI merged with the NWRAC (North Western Regional Advisory Council) in 1976 when the organisation of local authorities was undergoing radical change

In 1988, NWRAC / ULCI became CENTRA (the Further Education CENTre for the Regional Association of LEAs).

At this time, a proportion of the annual turnover came from LEA subscription. During the following years, the LEA subscription income was gradually withdrawn and CENTRA became self-financing in April 1993.

In 1994, CENTRA achieved corporate status as CENTRA (Education and Training Services) Ltd with a Board of Directors taking over from the North West LEAs.

In 2000, CENTRA along with AOSEC, EMFEC and Learning South West formed the Awarding Body Consortium Ltd (ABC) to provide its examining functions nationally.

CENTRA Ltd has charitable status as a result of its provision of services to the education sector.