Weston College has a wide range of courses to suit all learning styles
Weston College is an award-winning college of further and higher education in Weston-super-Mare. It provides education and vocational training to nearly 30,000 learners across the country.
We put the learner first and are entrepreneurial in our approach and innovative in our thinking. As a college, we are ambitious and aspirational and are responsive to the needs of students, staff, businesses, and the community.
Latest News
There is always so much going on across our various campuses and courses. Stay up to date on our latest news.
You may have seen news that a proposal was tabled to stop a small number of local bus services from October 2022 – the X2 Yatton to Bristol, the X5 Weston-super-Mare to Bristol serving Clevedon and Portishead and the 126 from Weston-super-Mare to Wells, serving Locking, Banwell, Sandford and Winscombe.
We are pleased to announce that First Bus and North Somerset Council have now agreed to re-introduce the last part of the X5 service so that it now travels all the way into Weston town centre, with the final stop being Marine Parade. The changes were going to see the service terminate at Worle Sainsbury’s from October (see below post on 18th August). At the same time, they have agreed to add in additional stops in Portishead to provide more accessible pick up points for our learners travelling from that town. Please see below a copy of the timetable of the X5 which begins on 10/10/2022.
|
Service No |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
|
Weston-s-Mare, Marine Parade |
05:50 |
07:00 |
08:00 |
09:00 |
10:00 |
11:00 |
12:00 |
13:00 |
14:00 |
15:00 |
16:00 |
17:00 |
18:00 |
|
Weston, Regent Street |
05:52 |
07:02 |
08:02 |
09:02 |
10:02 |
11:02 |
12:02 |
13:02 |
14:02 |
15:02 |
16:02 |
17:02 |
18:02 |
|
Worle, Sainsburys |
06:08 |
07:20 |
08:20 |
09:18 |
10:18 |
11:18 |
12:18 |
13:18 |
14:18 |
15:18 |
16:18 |
17:18 |
18:18 |
|
Clevedon, Old Street |
06:33 |
07:45 |
08:45 |
09:43 |
10:43 |
11:43 |
12:43 |
13:43 |
14:43 |
15:43 |
16:43 |
17:43 |
18:43 |
|
Weston-in-Gordano, White Hart |
06:41 |
07:54 |
08:54 |
09:51 |
10:51 |
11:51 |
12:51 |
13:51 |
14:51 |
15:52 |
16:52 |
17:52 |
18:52 |
|
Portishead, White Lion |
06:49 |
08:02 |
09:02 |
09:59 |
10:59 |
11:59 |
12:59 |
13:59 |
14:59 |
16:00 |
17:00 |
18:00 |
19:00 |
|
Service No |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
X5 |
|
|
Portishead, White Lion |
06:50 |
08:03 |
09:03 |
10:00 |
11:00 |
12:00 |
13:00 |
14:00 |
15:00 |
16:00 |
||
|
Portishead, The Precinct D |
07:00 |
08:13 |
09:13 |
10:10 |
11:10 |
12:10 |
13:10 |
14:10 |
15:10 |
16:10 |
||
|
Portishead, The Precinct D |
07:05 |
08:18 |
09:18 |
10:15 |
11:15 |
12:15 |
13:15 |
14:15 |
15:15 |
16:15 |
||
|
Avon Way |
07:09 |
08:22 |
09:22 |
10:19 |
11:19 |
12:19 |
13:19 |
14:19 |
15:19 |
16:19 |
||
|
Weston-in-Gordano, White Hart |
07:20 |
08:33 |
09:33 |
10:30 |
11:30 |
12:30 |
13:30 |
14:30 |
15:30 |
16:30 |
||
|
Clevedon, Triangle |
07:25 |
07:30 |
08:43 |
09:43 |
10:40 |
11:40 |
12:40 |
13:40 |
14:40 |
15:40 |
16:40 |
|
|
Worle, Sainsburys |
07:49 |
07:54 |
09:07 |
10:07 |
11:04 |
12:04 |
13:04 |
14:04 |
15:04 |
16:04 |
17:04 |
|
|
Weston-s-Mare, Marine Parade |
08:14 |
08:19 |
09:32 |
10:27 |
11:24 |
12:24 |
13:24 |
14:24 |
15:27 |
16:27 |
17:27 |
Other updates include:
Unfortunately, the 126 service that runs to/from Weston-super-Mare is no longer running. We have over the last couple of months posted various updates on this and just want to reiterate that learners travelling from Cheddar and on the 126 route still have travel options available to them.
Students can easily purchase a Bakers Dolphin travel pass for £90 that allows them great value for money travel to college on our bespoke service with Bakers. The Cheddar route supplies Axbridge, Banwell, Locking and all college campuses. Simply visit here to find out timetable information and how to purchase the Bakers Dolphin travel pass.
We will continue to negotiate with First Bus and North Somerset Council about the 126 being reinstated to/from WsM and will provide updates via our socials and MyWeston app.
A reminder that all information on our bus services can be found here TRAVELLING TO COLLEGE | Weston College and both bus passes are now available for purchase:
-
First Bus mTicket should be purchased via the online college shop
-
Bakers Dolphin services via their passenger app or website
Unfortunately, there will no longer be a X2 and 126 service from October 9th 2022. Even though this will impact some learners, we do have our own bespoke Bakers Dolphin services that can provide direct routes to our campuses. Our Bakers Dolphin services run from:
- Bridgwater
- Blagdon (covering Sandford, Banwell in terms of the 126)
- Cheddar
- Clevedon (in case the new X5 does not meet needs)
- Nailsea (that has been adjusted to cover the X2 route inc. Claverham and Yatton)
- Portishead (in case the new X5 does not meet needs)
All information on our bus services can be found here and both bus passes are now available for purchase:
- First Bus mTicket should be purchased via the online college shop
- Bakers Dolphin services via their passenger app or website
We are committed to ensure that learners and staff are able to access our campuses in a convenient and sustainable manner and will continue to monitor the situation and respond accordingly. If you have any concerns please contact us at enquiries@weston.ac.uk or 01934 411 411.
Weston College has been recognised for its outstanding mental health and wellbeing provision by becoming the first College in the UK to be awarded the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools ‘Further Education Mental Health Award’ – Gold Status.
The award was established in 2017 by the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health in Schools – part of Leeds Beckett University – and social enterprise Minds Ahead. The Award aims to strengthen students’ mental health by supporting schools and colleges to make a positive change at all levels of the UK's education system, improving students’ outcomes and life chances.
The Department for Education recognises a direct link between positive mental health and successful outcomes; the Further Education Mental Health Award builds on this link and provides a framework for educational institutions to evidence policies and initiatives that work towards improving emotional health and wellbeing for both staff and students.
The award ensures the institutions are using evidence-based approaches that align to professional and government guidelines. Utilising a developmental framework, which allows schools, colleges and sixth forms to evaluate current mental health practices, identify gaps, develop and strengthen these and work towards building an emotionally healthier environment. Through this process, the institution commits to making mental health a strategic priority and developing a positive culture that promotes mental well-being for everyone.
Weston College is led by Principal and Chief Executive Sir Paul Phillips CBE, who has been committed to creating an ethos which puts mental health, wellbeing and welfare at the forefront of college investment to help achieve the College’s mission of creating brighter futures for all its staff and students regardless of their starting point in life.
The Award assessor commented that Weston College presented a detailed profile of evidence that demonstrated they are excelling across all eight competencies of the Further Education Mental Health Award. The College has used the framework to further develop their excellence in the national arena.
Weston College has been a beacon of best practice for a number of years in mental health and wellbeing and is one of three SEND Centres for Excellence around the theme of “people and work”. In this capacity the College has worked with more than 100 colleges in the UK and also trained regional specialists for the Association of Colleges sharing best practice on topics such as authentic inclusion, psychological safety, autism, and trauma. They have also become the first college in the country to support staff to achieve the MHFA Suicide First Aid certification following a successful trial of this new qualification.
Sir Phillips commented; “This is a fantastic achievement for the College in such an important policy area, where we are delivering real impact for our students and staff. Credit should also be given to Dr Georgie Ford our Mental Health and Wellbeing Excellence Lead who led on the award coordination and our talented Mental Health and Welfare team who have also done an exceptional job in raising awareness and delivering a fantastic service that is making a real difference to student and staff’s mental health and wellbeing.”
Professor Damien Page, Dean of Leeds Beckett’s Carnegie School of Education, said: “Achieving this award is not just recognition of a whole-college approach to mental health, it’s a recognition of the college’s commitment to improving the life chances of its students.”
Dean Johnstone, founder and CEO of Minds Ahead said: “This award shines a light on the excellent work schools and colleges are doing to promote mental health for their community of children and adults.”
Here at Weston College, we want to ensure that our students are completely ready to progress onto higher levels – both in terms of having the knowledge and skills, but also having the confidence and self-belief that they can succeed when progressing. Therefore, the Progression programmes we offer are the ideal way to give a little extra support, in a variety of modules.
As well as providing extra support, the Progression programme is also designed to allow learners to have a preview of the course before dedicating themselves to the full T Level course. Maria said: “after doing my GCSEs, I had 2 options: either I wanted to go into a job involving computers or become a beautician. I know they are completely different industries, but I couldn’t decide which one to choose”. After applying for both and having interviews, Maria decided to start on the Digital T Level progression journey.
Since starting the full T Level course, Maria has had the opportunity to work with a local company as part of the industry placement on the T Level course. With this involving learning new skills such as PHP programming and website design. Within the course, Maria was able to learn areas such as “programming, web development, cyber security and emerging technology and also take part in an employer set project. In my programming lessons I’m learning python library’s NumPy, Pandas, Tkinter.”
Megan, another learner who has transitioned onto the Digital T Level from the Computing Transition Programme, said that she was “incredibly excited to be progressing to study a T Level course." She continued, "I have thoroughly enjoyed the last year of my T level program course, and the opportunities and skills which I have developed in the programme. The course has really reinforced my passion for working in data analysis. Before this course I was not sure what sector I wanted to work in. I'm looking forward to my next steps where I will be studying a T Level in Digital, Production, Design and Development where I can improve my knowledge within computing subjects.”
We are so proud that Weston College has been one of the first providers in the country to offer both the T Level and Transition programmes, and that they’ve both already seen such success in the learner’s journey towards their respective industries, particularly the computing industry in Maria and Megan’s case.
If you are interested in learning more about T Levels, click here!
CAREERS NOT COURSES
We know it’s not about the course you take, but the career you’ll start your journey towards. Your study programme is built from the ground up with your future in mind, focussing on employability and developing the skills you need to have a successful career within your chosen industry, making connections and gaining experiences through local and national employers we work with:
As a Weston College student, you will become part of one of our exciting new Career Excellence Hubs.
This means our courses aren't just courses... your study programme is built from the ground up with your future in mind, focussing on employability and developing the skills you need to have a successful career within your chosen industry...
LECTURERS WITH REAL INDUSTRY EXPERIENCES
COURSES ENDORSED BY EMPLOYERS
INDUSTRY STANDARD FACILITIES
INCREDIBLE WORK-BASED OPPORTUNITIES
AMAZING GUEST LECTURES
COURSES ENDORSED BY EMPLOYERS
VIEW OUR PROSPECTUS
"The college organised lots of amazing experiences for us with specialist guest lectures on sepsis, home care, nutrition and bee therapy"
Chloe
Health and Social Care, Level 2 & 3
