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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
A character design done by our very own Game and Animation learner Jack Griffiths, has been selected to be turned into an official character skin in Fortnite!
Fortnite is a free-to-play video game the sees up to 100 players competing individually or in teams to be the last one/ones standing as the boundaries of their battle ground shrinks over-time.
The multi-billion pound Battle Royale currently has over 350 million active monthly users across the world, making it biggest games on the planet.
In June, Fortnite developer Epic Games published that they are "looking for two exceptional community-created concepts" to be turned into in-game outfits for their to-be-announced Winter 2021 event.
The brief was simple: festive, frosty, and fun designs to bundle up in this holiday season.
As a player and aspiring 3D animator Weston College student, Jack, saw this as a perfect opportunity to showcase his talents in character design that he had been developing in and out of class.... And so the character concept was created: Frigid Forgoer.
Jack, with the online artist alias "Alta Calls", added: "I decided to apply for the competition because I had been working on concept skins for around a year at that point, it's one of my biggest passions and seeing Epic go out of their way to support the concept community by hosting a competition was amazing I figured this was my best chance of getting a skin in game so I jumped right into it and started designing!
“Frigid Forgoer is a twist of the frozen theme, with something a bit more unique and visually interesting; A frozen sheriff with a vengeance.
"This win means practically everything to me, I worked so hard over the last year getting better at Blender and getting better at general character design and to finally see one get in game is incredible. I have received great support from the college, using the knowledge from my course to actually pull through and create the skin trailer which I was so close on giving up on. Without the teaching in class, it would not of been possible."
Jack studies The Level 3 diploma in Game and Animation. On this course our learners learn and develop their skills in storyboarding, character design, 2D design and 3D animation; becoming equipped to step into the ever-growing gaming industry.
The King Alfred School alumni continued: “I chose the game and animation course because it's my biggest passion in life. I've played games my whole life and when I grew older I started to love how games are able to tell such emotional and compelling stories and be such amazing pieces of art that I just had to make it my career.”
Game and Animation tutor, Sam Stokes, commented: "It’s amazing to see Jack’s hard work pay of, the constant drive and motivation to keep pushing his skills to the next level is remarkable.
"It fills me with pride that our Game and Animation Production course has given him the platform to challenge his skills and achieve recognition on a globally renowned game like Fortnite."
The two winners of the "Concept Royale" competition were announced via Fortnite's social media pages, their tweet can be found below:
Congratulations to @lbdart_ and @AltaCalls, our Concept Royale winners ?
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) August 19, 2021
We can’t wait to see their concepts turned into in-game Outfits this Winter.
And a big thank you to everyone who shared their chilly creations with us. We are always in awe of your creativity ? pic.twitter.com/QVTCh2WvRw
As well as both outfits making their official debut to the game this December, the two winners each won a £1,000 cash prize.
Jack is aiming to be a 3D marketing artist or character designer and this is in incredible accolade that will no doubt open many doors in the future. A HUGE congratulations goes to Jack. A very brighter future awaits!
Click here to see more on Frigid Forgoer and more of Jack's amazing work
Click here to learn more about our courses in Game and Animation
Click here to sign up for our next open evening
Weston College and University Centre Weston alumni Jack Kimmins is proving his amazing talents in computing as he is selected for the finals of the WorldSkills national competition.
WorldSkills UK is an independent charity that works with employers, education and governments, supporting young people across the world via competitions-based training, testing their ability to achieve world-class standards in the biennial ‘skills olympics’.
Over 3,000 people registered to take part in the UK-wide competitions in March 2021 and Jack is one of 400 who made it into the finals, which is split into 64 disciplines.
Jack is competing in the Web Design category which is to take place in Weston-super-Mare, hosted by Weston College.
Talking about the selection process, Jack commented: "To get into the finals, I first had to make it into the semi-finals, which involved creating a suitable website design that met a predefined client's brief. Then, to qualify for the national finals, I had to build a website using HTML and CSS that met specific requirements and that was based upon a website wireframe design."
The College will host the prestigious WorldSkills UK National Web Design Competition from Wednesday 17th November – Friday 19th November, with the winners being crowned at a ceremony hosted by TV presenter Steph McGovern from her Packed Lunch studio on Friday 26 November.
This exciting announcement is just one of the fantastic career enhancing opportunities available at the college, through the newly launched Career Excellence Hubs.
At the College each subject area forms its own specific Career Excellence Hub, endorsed by relevant sector employers which help to create a study programme with lots of career boosting benefits, WorldSkills competing opportunities is one of these.
Jack continued: "The support that I have been provided throughout my journey with WorldSkills has been excellent. I have attended every meeting and practice session available to me, which has enabled me to focus on the distinct details of the competition.
"I'm very proud that I have made it this far in the competition and to represent my university in the national finals.
"This opportunity has enabled me to expand my knowledge and practical abilities with web development. It is also given me more self-trust in my abilities, as it being a competition, the nature of it requires you to have a degree of confidence in your skills to be successful in it."
We wish Jack the very best of luck with the finals and continuing to succeed with his Masters degree. A very bright future ahead!
Click here to read more about our Computing and IT department, including the Career Excellence Hubs
Click here to read more about our other WorldSkills Finalists
Joe Martin, an Apprentice Sheet Metal Fabricator at GKN Aerospace, won the title of Engineering Apprentice of the Year at the Weston College Business Awards 2016.
Now in the sixth year, the awards recognise the exceptional achievements of employers and apprentices across a range of industries.
Joe was chosen as the engineering category winner by a panel of judges and was presented with his award on stage by keynote speaker, Sally Gunnell.
Joe is a natural leader within the group and has been invited to work on a go-kart which the second year apprentices are constructing. Joe has had to use his skills to manufacture parts of the titanium structure (which include the seat structure, brake mounts as well as other key components) while ensuring that they fit correctly.
Joe said: “While I was at school I was encouraged to stay on and complete the sixth form and then see if I could gain a place at university. All this I achieved but after a while I decided that this was not the path I wanted for my career.
“I looked at apprenticeships but then I thought I may be too old. A friend told me that GKN Aerospace were taking on apprentices and upon applying it made me realise that I wanted to take a hands-on approach into gaining a career and an apprenticeship seemed to be the best way to do this.
“I really enjoy being an apprentice. I attend Weston College four days a week and work the other day at GKN, learning new skills which will help me in my career; all this and I get paid.
“My future plans are to complete my Level 2 apprenticeship, then my Level 3, establish myself as a skilled fabricator, then become a team leader and finally part of the management team.”
His employer said: “Joe has applied himself fully to all aspects of work at GKN and has performed to a high standard throughout the first year of his apprenticeship. He is one of our highest performers and has become the natural leader amongst our first years. All our other first years gravitate towards Joe for answers to engineering problems.”
GKN Aerospace also won two business awards at the ceremony: Large Business Employer of the Year and the overall Employer of the Year 2016 title.
For more information on the Weston College Business Awards visit: www.weston.ac.uk/businessawards.
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