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.
My name is Ben Hoskin, and I am the Chief Operating Officer of Regency Purchasing Group. I’ve worked here since 2009, and was appointed into this role in 2022. I also lead the UK’s largest network of field-based procurement managers.
For 20 years, Regency Purchasing Group have been helping businesses across the UK reduce their costs by leveraging the value of their collective spend. We work with over 170 local and national suppliers to support more than 5,000 businesses delivering savings of between 8-14% across all buying categories. However, we do so much more than just saving businesses time and money…
As sustainability continues to grow in significance on the global agenda, we’re helping more and more organisations align their procurement to unlock supply chain sustainability benefits and reduce the impact on social, environment and economic factors.
We will be working with Weston College, in particular the Hospitality and Catering department and the Grove, to review their supply chain and identify ways in which the college can decrease emissions to achieve their ambition to become Net Zero.
We’ve already completed a full purchasing audit which has presented over 11% of cost savings, and next we’ll be reviewing waste and recycling processes and contracts.
We’ll also be introducing our market-leading technology solutions to provide the college with full control of their purchasing, as well as providing staff and students with access to MenuIQ, our menu, allergen and nutrition management system. The functionality within this system will allow students to effectively develop their menus, manage menu costs and understand the importance of allergen and ingredient management and compliance. The MenuIQ platform has been built by an in-house team of software specialists and as part of the partnership with the college, we intend to invite students to provide user feedback which will be considered for future development and new feature releases.
For the college, there are multiple drivers for why this is will create a positive impact, including cost reduction through reduced energy costs, reduced over-specification, reduced consumption, reduced wastage as well as reduced social and environmental compliance costs.
Sustainability also comes with risk reduction benefits – it reduces the potential negative financial impact on brand value from using unsustainable products or working with suppliers using unsustainable practices, as well as non-compliance with environmental regulations.
There will also be opportunity for the college to increase revenue by charging more for eco-friendly products, as well as possible income streams from incentivised recycling and waste management programmes.
Net zero is the best way we can tackle climate change; the actions we take in the next 10 years to limit emissions will be critical to the future of the planet, so it’s hugely important that businesses and individuals work together to reduce the carbon we produce.
As a national business with roots in Weston-super-Mare, we’re delighted to be supporting such a progressive local business. I am confident that our partnership will go from strength to strength, leaving no stone unturned.
- Ben Hoskin, Regency Purchasing Group
Our Music learners and lecturers aren’t only passionate about their studies. Along with creating musical masterpieces, they are also passionate about supporting one another and bringing people together when times get tough.
Music Instructor and Technician, Oz Cahill’s proactivity and industry experience enabled him to organise an event at The Electric Banana in Weston-super-Mare in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support.
This came about after one of our UCW music degree students regrettably informed Oz that his mother had been diagnosed with cancer. The music team asked him what they could do to support, and he suggested he would like to put on a blues gig.
After catching up with Oz, he told us: “Knowing the learners' parents quite well and their love for music, we felt we could do this for and with him. As with any events I am involved in; I put up a post on social media, anticipating a few local bands who knew me would agree to play alongside the learner's band. However, a good friend requested more details. The Dirt Road Band were key to the complete line-up. Sadly, a band member had to have surgery on his hand and so they were unable to attend but will be playing Weston in the near future!”.
Despite this, Oz was able to recruit another band to headline: Sons of Liberty,who are also very well known on the circuit.
All in all, the night was a huge success and the dedication and hard work from all resulted in an amazing £2300 being raised for MacMillan Cancer Support, including a generous donation from Dr Paul.
Weston Music Shop also very kindly supported the event by donating an electric guitar which is to be auctioned. Oz told us: “It will have photographic and certificated authentication to increase its value as all of the guitarists of the event played it and were photographed with it”.
Rideout's Cancer Kickback turned out to be one of the most exciting and successful events in the venue, being full to capacity throughout the evening session. It was also great to see our learners’ band play on the same bill as an array of outstanding professional musicians.
We are immensely proud of all of those who took part and supported the event for such an important cause! Oz looks forward to securing further opportunities that will help our learners to gain genuine industry experience.
To find out more about Music at Weston College, click here.
As part of ‘My Future Month’, the Careers Advice Team and the Business Growth Team have collaborated to deliver CareersFest!
CareersFest was held at the Winter Gardens Pavilion in Weston-super-Mare on the 7th March. The event was designed to help learners explore your potential career pathways, as well as considering their interests and skills. Approximately 1000 Weston College learners and 400 school students were welcomed for our biggest ever Careers event!
The aim was to make learners aware of all their options for the future, including apprenticeships, higher education, and everything in between. Around fifty employers were also in attendance, to discuss the opportunities they could offer to the learners.
53 exhibitors had stalls around the venue, with representatives from each, excited to meet their potential employees, apprentices or university students. Employers who were in attendance included the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, EDF Energy, GKN Aerospace, the NHS and Jet2, as well as many more, with universities including UCW, Cardiff, Exeter, Gloucestershire and Falmouth there too.
Anna Holton, School Liaison & IAG Manager, commented on the success of the day: “We’re so thrilled at the outcome of our CareersFest 2023 event, where we were able to bring together both Weston College learners and school leavers to meet potential employers, universities and other future options! Here at Weston College, our mantra is ‘careers, not courses’, so ensuring our learners have opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations with these exhibitors is crucial. We've already had positive feedback from the exhibitors that attended and our learners about their experience yesterday. This event, held in National Careers Week kick starts a series of virtual Careers activities for our learners through our very own ‘My Future Month’. CareersFest is a positive way to start a Careers focussed month, we can’t wait to see where our learners’ journeys take them!”
If you would like to receive some advice on your future, you can contact the school advice team 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
