The college offers apprenticeship training as well as A-level, vocational and higher education courses.

The college is situated on the A1085 between Westfield and West Dyke, and very near Redcar Central railway station.

Sir William Turner left money to form a school in Kirkleatham in 1709, which was rebuilt on Coatham Road in 1868.

The boys' grammar school and the Cleveland Grammar School for Girls, on Redcar Lane, went comprehensive in 1975, with both sixth forms merging to form the Sir William Turner's Sixth-Form College located on Redcar Lane.

As part of the merger both colleges maintained their name and identities in their respective local communities.