Weston College is running a free event to help school leavers make decisions about their future.

‘What Next?’ will provide pupils in school years 10 and 11 – and their parents – with advice and information about qualifications, courses and career pathways.

They will get to speak to expert College staff and employers, and have a go at a range of work-related activities.

The event takes place from 5.30-7.30pm on Wednesday 2nd October at the Winter Gardens in Weston.

Ben Cocks, Assistant Director and the College’s Careers Leader, said: “Leaving school is a daunting time for young people and their parents. They are bombarded with a range of confusing terms and asked to make choices that will affect the rest of their lives.

“’What Next’? is designed to take the headache out of those decisions, and explain the confusing educational jargon and how it relates to them. With new qualifications such as T Levels being introduced, alongside exceedingly dynamic UK industry sectors, it’s important that young people know what skills, knowledge and behaviours will be needed to be successful in tomorrow’s job market’

“We wanted this to be different to your usual careers convention and really focus on giving people access to employers and industry experts. It’s a fantastic opportunity for young people who are leaving school in 2020 or 2021 as they’ll get to talk to knowledgeable staff and employers from all over the UK in a fun, friendly environment.”

The College’s expert careers team will be on hand to offer guidance on a range of work-related topics, including:

• Exploring career opportunities
• Weighing up options and making decisions
• Job hunting and applications
• CV writing
• Applying to university and student finance

School leavers will be able to meet a range of employers and experience the world of work, by having a go at some exciting industry demonstrations.

Those baffled by the range of subjects, qualifications and levels available at College, will have the opportunity to talk to lecturers about courses, levels and the grades they might need.

Click here for more information and to register your attendance

If you would like advice on qualifications or careers, call 01934 411 415 or email aspect@weston.ac.uk

In a time where timetables are packed out with lessons and supporting extra-curricular activities, lecturers time is more valuable than ever.

As we move further into a digital age, we’ve experienced a huge increase in the number of emails and repetitive digital communications that lecturers are having to deal with on a daily basis.

In response, we’ve teamed up with Purlos to co-design a digital assistant that will help to reduce the time spent answering repetitive questions from students.

Purlos’ mission is to drive efficiencies for academic institutions in order to focus on their students.

The purpose of this chat bot will be to answer personalised questions that learners send to lecturers over our secure sharepoint system: Microsoft Teams.

By pulling information from the internet, the state-of-the-art bot can answer questions where the answers are sometimes difficult and time consuming to find online.

Furthermore, the bot is particularly impressive when answering questions where the information is not online.

For instance, if someone asks “What time is our Maths lesson today?”, the bot will be able to send an automatic response based on the information that has been curated by the administrator.

This will therefore give learners a much faster response and save staff time by alleviating the need to respond to the same questions.

Additional benefits could also extend to distance learning where 1:1 contact is not often possible. This will enable more people to access the same help and information, whatever their circumstances. Approximately 100 students recently had the opportunity to have a trial run of the software.

Jon Hofgartner, Assistant Director in Technology Learning Resources Skills & Progression, added “Weston College offers a large range of services, support and resources for learners.

“Knowing how, when and where to access these when needed is where we feel a digital assistant can help our learners .

“This development aims to help learners find answers to common questions about their time at College as well as signpost key services.

“We’re also adding features to connect students with online videos from LinkedIn Learning to help them develop a range of skills and knowledge to give them the edge.”

Weston College is officially a Further AND Higher Education establishment following a successful bid to the Government.

The move towards offering more degrees at the College ties in with North Somerset Council’s strategy for the regeneration of Weston-super-Mare and will lead to an eventual aim of having a ‘University Centre’ in the town.

Although Weston College already offers degrees, its new status means it will be able to expand its provision significantly, leading to many more new jobs for the town and surrounding area.

Welcoming the news, Dr Paul Phillips, Weston College Principal and Chief Executive, said the College’s new status tied in with the continuing development of its South West Skills Campus (SWSC) on Locking Road, extensions to Loxton Campus on Locking Road, the development of the North Somerset Enterprise and Technology College at Junction 21and improvements at its Knightstone Campus.

He said: “The time was right to go for this bid, particularly when the town of Weston-super-Mare will be seeing major regeneration in the very near future in the form of Junction 21 and the Dolphin Square development. I am jointly working through the Local Enterprise Partnership and North Somerset Council so that the idea of regeneration in Weston-super-Mare leans towards a ‘town centre urbanisation project’ with HE a major feature of this.”

Mike Jackson, Chief Executive of North Somerset Council, said: “This is excellent news for North Somerset, and Weston-super-Mare in particular. We work very closely with the College and I am delighted that their bid to Government has been successful. Weston College already plays an extremely important role in Weston-super-Mare’s economy. As we look to the future, Higher Education should play a significant role in delivering development and investment in the town centre, which is a priority for the council.”

HE provision at Weston College has grown rapidly, with around 800 students now on HE courses with partners Bath Spa University and the University of the West of England. It is hoped that a new centre may easily double this number in the next few years.

Weston College’s aspirations tie in with a speech made recently by Universities Minister David Willetts, who said that HE provision should focus on economic ‘cold spots’.

The minister said that he hoped the removal of controls on student numbers from next year would result in more campuses being set up. He added: “There are no barriers to setting up a higher education campus. If this is your town’s dream we want you to pursue it.”