The Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) is a co-educational residential college of further education based in the English city of Hereford. Students who attend the college are blind or partially sighted. Students can study a wide range of qualifications at RNC, from academic subjects such as English and mathematics to more vocational topics such as performing arts. Alongside regular further education subjects and vocational training, the college offers training in independent living and personal development. In 2008, there were 196 students whose ages ranged from 16 upwards. Founded in 1871 in London as The Royal Normal College and Academy for the Blind, the college had a number of homes before moving to its campus in Hereford, and was renamed Royal National College for the Blind in the late 1970s. It has been a pioneer in the education of visually impaired people in Britain since the Victorian era, and, as of 2010, is the only college for visually impaired students in the United Kingdom to have been awarded Beacon Status in recognition of its outstanding teaching and learning.