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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
Since achieving fantastic results on her Level 3 course, Beauty Therapy alumni Amelia Lee (18) is continuing to showcase her talent and tenacity as she was recently 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 back in March and Amelia is one of 400 who made it into the finals, which is split into 64 disciplines.
Amelia commented: “I first heard of WorldSkills on my Interview evening for my first year studying Beauty Therapy. I was told the passion and dedication it took to be a part of it, I knew there and then this was something I was going to aspire to achieve.
The ex-Worle school student had to go through multiple qualifiers in order to make it to the finals. For the regional round, contestants first had to submit a picture of an immaculate French manicure and red-carpet makeup look they had put together. This was followed by a five minute presentation video explaining what makes a good massage treatment, showing progression in execution since the entry pictures. Finally, a five minute video presenting all spectrums of massage techniques and pressures.
Amelia commented: “Once the regional round had been judged, the total entry numbers went from 60 to 8. I am lucky enough to be one of the 8!
“I feel so proud to be taking part in such a large nationwide competition, there was no other feeling better than when I received my email to say I had qualified for nationals. For me, it shows courage and determination, the sky is the limit now”
The finalists will compete for gold, silver and bronze from 9-19 November, with the winners 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.
Amelia added: “Enabling a student to become ‘Job Ready’ is massively important to build students confidence and prepare them for their next adventure that awaits them.”
“Throughout doing WorldSkills, so far, I have learnt to take on constructive criticism, to be determined and to dig deep within for what you really want. Anything is possible if you believe!”
Having finished her course at Weston college, Amelia now has a job in the industry, working at Elements Boutique Spa in Bridgwater.
She continues: “The support I have received from the College has been incredible. I was lucky enough to have the most brilliant tutor who truly believed in me and is still constantly encouraging me to strive for excellence. Without Jenna (my tutor), I would have never been able to get this far. I am now proud to be working in the industry and Jenna has made me the best therapist I can be, for that I am eternally grateful.
“For anyone that is thinking of studying Beauty at Weston College, I think you need skills like patience, determination and the passion for the subject.”
The college is now offering technical qualifications in Beauty Therapy as well as vocational diplomas. Grades of five GCSE at grade 9-3, including English and maths at grade 4 or above, are needed for Level 3 and a minimum of five GCSEs at grade 9-2, with at least two at grade 4 or a qualifying Level 1 qualification, is required to study at Level 2.
We’d like to wish Amelia the very best of luck with the national WorldSkills finals!
Click here to read more about our other WorldSkills contestants
WorldSkills UK has announced over 400 students and apprentices who will be battling it out across 64 disciplines to be crowned national skills champions.
We are extremely proud to share that this includes four students from the Weston College Group: Three Weston College learners and one degree learner from University Centre Weston (UCW).
| Student name | Category | Subject studied |
|---|---|---|
| Luke Merchant | Automative Technology | Motor Vehicle |
| Amelia Lee | Beauty Therapy Practitioner | Beauty Therapy |
| Oran Kendrew | Web Design | Computing |
| Jack Kimmins | Web Design | Computing (UCW) |
Following 2020 and a year without competitions, over 3,000 people registered to take part in the UK-wide competitions back in March.
The finalists will compete for gold, silver and bronze from 9-19 November, with the winners crowned at a ceremony hosted by TV presenter Steph McGovern from her Packed Lunch studio on Friday 26 November.
This year sees the finals taking place in locations across the UK for the first time. From the Industrial Robotics final in Ballymena, to Heavy Vehicle Engineering in Cardiff, Cyber Security in Lanarkshire and Web Design at Weston College, the 25 venues cover all four corners of the UK.
Ben Blackledge, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, WorldSkills UK said: “I want to offer my congratulations to all those that took part in our programme this year, especially the finalists. After a year without competitions due to the pandemic it was really encouraging to see so many people back involved this year.
“Our competitions and competition-based development programmes equip apprentices and students with the lifelong, world-class skills that will help increase UK productivity and competitiveness.”
This exciting announcement is just one of the fantastic career enhancing opportunities available at the college, through our newly launched Career Excellence Hubs.
At the College each subject area forms it’s own specific Career Excellence Hub, endorsed by relevant sector employers which help to create a study programme with lots of career boosting benefits. Thanks to the College’s amazing industry connections, both locally, nationally and internationally, our school leaver programmes are developed by focussing on increasing future employability, and developing the skills learners need to have a successful career in the sector and making them stand out from the crowd when they get to job applications and interviews.
Dr Paul Philips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of the Weston College Group added: “A huge congratulations to our students Luke, Amelia, Oran and Jack. The Weston College Group really values the skills and experience that the WorldSkills UK competition-based development programmes offers our students.
"We are very much about ‘careers not courses’ at Weston College and this is what has been the catalyst for our sector specific Careers Excellence Hubs. WorldSkills UK aligns with this perfectly as it is designed by industry experts and enhances the practical skills and knowledge taught on training courses by assessing an individual’s employability attributes against set criteria in a competitive timed environment.
“I am excited to see our competing learner’s journeys as they build on their employability skills and develop in confidence.”
The WorldSkills UK competition-based development programmes are designed by industry experts and enhance the practical skills and knowledge taught on training courses by assessing an individual’s employability attributes against set criteria in a competitive timed environment.
The programme has a real impact on those taking part, with 90% of previous entrants saying their career progression improved after competing and 86% stating their personal and employability skills had improved.
Click here to see the full details of the finals and the names of all finalists.
Weston College has an outstanding set of English and Maths GCSE results again this year. 40% of learners who re-took their Maths GCSE achieved a grade 4 or higher. 63% of learners who re-took English Language GCSE achieved a grade 4 or higher. Both of which are above the National Average which in 2019-20 was 35.7% for English and 28.1% for maths.
Each year we have a combination of new learners to the College and returning learners, who have previously failed to obtain the C grade required to progress to further education.
These results are a huge cause for celebration, and go to show how Weston College supports its learners to achieve.
Kelly O’Connor, Subject Area Manager for GCSE English, said: “I’m immensely proud of my students and am confident that they have paved their way to successful futures.”
Some of the tremendous successes recorded at the College include:
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