Stirlingshire Education Authority opened Falkirk Technical College in 1963. It was formed from the merger of the County Trades School, Burnbank Foundry Trades Centre, Blackbraes Further Education Centre and the County Mining Institute. There was a large scale expansion in 1973. The college was set up to provide further and adult education. By the 1970s it was offering SCE courses, CGLI, HND and HNC and later it offered courses up to degree standard. In the 1980s it offered degrees under the CNAA and from the 1990s was able to offer degrees in its own right. SQA National Courses replaced SCE, SCOTVEC and CGLI courses in the late 1990s. The College was re-named Falkirk College of Technology and then Falkirk College of Further and Higher Education. In 2005 it merged with Clackmannanshire College to become Forth Valley College The College was built on soft glacial boulder clay which required piles over 30m deep.