SERC was created following the merger of three institutes of further and higher education in the south-east of Northern Ireland.

[1][better source needed] The college was inspected in 2009 by the Education and Training Inspectorate, with the finding that "In the priority skills areas inspected, the quality of education and training provided by the South Eastern Regional College is good".

[3] The college offers a range of full-time and part-time' courses and has over 30,000 students and over 1,000 members of staff.

[4] There are also many part-time leisure courses which run in the evening, for example Holiday Spanish, Tai Chi, Painting For Pleasure or Baking Breads.

The three hair & beauty salons and three restaurants are open to the public to book.