COURSES FOR SCHOOL LEAVERS
Your Future Starts Here
With hundreds of exciting courses, this is where your journey begins. From day one, you'll be supported, inspired, and on track to a rewarding career.
See SubjectsJoin a Career Excellence Hub and gain real-world skills, experience, and confidence to reach your goals.
Whether you're finishing school, changing direction, or learning English with our ESOL courses – we’ve got you covered.
Get started today – pick a subject and apply online in just 5 minutes!
Find Your Future Path
QUALIFICATIONS EXPLAINED
A Levels develop the knowledge, skills and study habits to excel at university, as well as the attributes recognised by employers.
Your academic studies will be complemented with enrichment opportunities such as trips, mentoring and work experience, providing the perfect springboard for your future career.
A Levels are assessed through exams at the end of two years of study. Most learners study three subjects - some choose four.
With an apprenticeship you’ll go straight into the workplace and be shown clear routes to progress straight into employment within a specific occupation. You can achieve nationally recognised qualifications, earn a wage, and gain skills that will see you get ahead. On average you will spend 20% of your learning time in the college and 80% within the workplace
Professional and technical qualifications are designed to provide you with the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to gain employment within specific industries or occupations. They provide a balance between theory and practical skills development. They are suited to those who want to get hands-on experience within a particular vocational area. These programmes include work placements. Assessment is more varied and will include exams, coursework and practical work.
T Levels give you the chance to learn what a real career is like while you continue your studies. T Levels have been designed with leading businesses and employers to give you the knowledge and skills you need, including a minimum of 45 days on an industry placement – this means you will spend 80% of your learning time in College and 20% within the workplace.
LATEST NEWS
This week plumbing learners from our Construction Career Excellence Hub, were treated to a visit from German specialist tool manufacturers, REMS.
Daniel Parker, Regional Product Engineer at REMS, delivered a brilliant guest talk, whilst also showcasing the wide product range on offer. Daniel said: “It was a real pleasure to show off our product range to the next generation of Plumbing and Heating Engineers, the lads were really enthusiastic and a real credit to the College.”
The learners were all engaged, and enjoyed hearing from the industry – something that is a critical part of the delivery at Weston College, through the Career Excellence Hubs.
Ethan Sampson, who is a second year plumbing and heating technician apprentice with Gas Safe Ltd, was in attendance and commented: “I really enjoy it when manufacturers come in and do demonstrations because it really helps me to relate our theory lessons, and look at the new products on the market we will be using in future within the plumbing industry. When I talk to other people in the industry, they have told me that they didn’t receive this type of support at college.”
If you would like to find out more about the courses we offer in plumbing, click here.
Last year we met Lillie, a learner who lacked confidence, but had huge potential.
Lillie’s dream was to work as Healthcare Support Worker, and she started her journey with us, on a traineeship.
Traineeships give learners the opportunity to gain valuable work experience in a sector they are interested in, while also improving employability skills, English and Maths.
It wasn’t an easy start, as at first Lillie felt that she wasn’t ready to progress, but that simply wasn’t the case.
She impressed everyone on a daily basis, and her confidence started to grow. This resulted in Lillie gaining her first placement at St Michaels Hospital (UHBW), in the Ears, Nose and Throat (ENT) Outpatients Department.
Lillie started by shadowing members of the team, before moving on to independent tasks. She soon became a proactive member of staff, making a great impact, resulting in her being asked to stay within the team when she was due to move onto another department.
On completion of her traineeship, Lillie was asked to apply for an apprenticeship, and she was offered a Level 2 Health Care Support Worker apprenticeship. Following Lillie’s amazing impact on her traineeship, the ENT department then requested Lillie to complete her apprenticeship with them – proof of the hard work and commitment shown throughout her traineeship.
The good news didn’t stop there. Earlier this year Lillie was nominated for Traineeship Learner of the Year, at the Weston College Business Awards, which she won!
She is now progressing very well on her apprenticeship, and we can’t wait to see her continued development.
On Wednesday we welcomed Ben, from the Royal Navy to talk to students in their first and second year from the Public Services Career Excellence Hub.
It was a fascinating insight into what a career in the Royal Navy is like, with Ben delivering a session on his experiences, covering aspects such as training and traveling. He also shared the wide variety of career paths with the Royal Navy.
Learners were fully engaged, and were then given the opportunity to ask questions to Ben, who gave an honest assessment on life within the Royal Navy, which inspired learners. Key themes brought up included how special it is to be part of the Royal Navy, how teamwork is a critical part of the career and also how it is an honour to protect the nation.
Learners from our Public Services courses go into a range of careers, from the emergency services to the military, and we feel it is important to provide learners with the opportunity to engage with industry and get a deeper understanding into what each career is like.
A big thank you to Ben for visiting us.
Find out more about our Public Services courses, by clicking here.
On Wednesday we welcomed Ben, from the Royal Navy to talk to students in their first and second year from the Public Services Career Excellence Hub.
It was a fascinating insight into what a career in the Royal Navy is like, with Ben delivering a session on his experiences, covering aspects such as training and traveling. He also shared the wide variety of career paths with the Royal Navy.
WHICH LEVEL IS RIGHT FOR ME?
