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
The way GCSEs are graded is changing. The alphabetised G to A* system is being phased out and replaced with a numerical grade that ranges from one to nine, with nine being higher than an A*.
This system means that there is greater differentiation between the highest achieving students. You can find the full table below…
| New number grading system | Old alphabetised grading structure |
|---|---|
| 9 | |
| A* | |
| 8 | |
| 7 | A |
| 6 | |
| B | |
| 5 | |
| C | |
| 4 | |
| D | |
| 3 | |
| E | |
| 2 | |
| F | |
| 1 | |
| G | |
| U | U |
While getting involved in volunteering can help you develop a large number of transferrable skills which are vital to being successful with job applications, getting involved with volunteering can do much more for you that just provide something for you to add to your CV...
A series of studies has proven that volunteering has a positive effect on your mental health too, one study even finding that volunteering is the best activity for improving your mental health.
This is because volunteering helps you feel more socially connected as it usually involves working as part of a team towards a common cause. This in turn makes you feel happy and wards off loneliness and depression.
If you are feeling stressed or you feel generally undervalued, getting involved with your local community can be beneficial to help improve your mental health.
Weston College launched its annual Creative Arts Summer Show last week, showcasing work from further and higher education students.
Students and staff from across the Creative Arts faculty came together to put on a spectacular opening night which saw around 1,500 visitors view the students’ work and watch a variety of music performances in the sunshine.
There was also street food and refreshments available on opening night, encouraging people of all ages to visit the show with their families.
Hundreds of students from across the Creative Arts faculty are participating in the event, which showcases work from art and design, media, music, performing arts and many more course areas.
Farhath Siddiqui, who studies FdA Film and Media Arts Production at UCW and has made a vlog about the event, said: “This is my fifth Summer Show and they get better and better every year.
“It is so nice to see everyone come together to showcase their work, and also just have a good time, chill and celebrate our achievements on opening night.”
Sarah Clark, Creative Arts Head of Faculty, added: “I would just like to thank and congratulate all staff and students involved in the Creative Arts Summer Show 2017.
“Opening night was a huge success with no issues and overwhelming positive feedback and words of support from visitors.”
The show is currently still open to the public until Thursday 22nd June, between 10.30am – 4.30pm on weekdays.
WHICH LEVEL IS RIGHT FOR ME?
