As part of our Student Support service, we support students with learning difficulties and differences, disabilities and medical conditions. The college supports:
- Young people who are in or leaving the care system.
- Students who are carers
- Students who are experiencing estrangement from their families.
We also provide support relating to any issues that may be perceived as disadvantages or potential barriers to success.
The Learning Support Team will provide guidance before you start and during your induction in order to:
- identify skills;
- assess support needs;
- ensure that the college is the most appropriate place for your particular support needs, as well as your interests and chosen career path.
You can tell us about your support needs on your application form, when you talk to our Admissions Team to confirm your interview slot and at your interview. Please tell us as much as you can so that we can fully understand your needs.
If you can bring any supporting documents, such as an Educational Health Care Plan, Educational Psychologist reports, or medical diagnosis letters with you to your interview, that would be really helpful. We may arrange a support review as a follow up to your interview, talk to your school about support you have received to date, and to your local authority about funding arrangements. We may also talk to your Social Worker, Key Worker, any health professionals you regularly engage with and parents/carers.
We will endeavour to provide appropriate support for you, with needs assessed on an individual basis.
The type of support we can offer may include:
A learning support worker to provide in class 1 to 1 or group support
A daily ‘triage’ drop in for pastoral care or learning support
Support in your English and maths lessons
Further assessments for Exam Access Arrangements
We can create individual support packages for higher-needs learners in consultation with your Local Authority. This will be based on any existing documentation, such as an Educational Health and Care Plan.
Once on the course, you will have a series of one-to-one tutorials which will support your progress, feeding into an Individual Learning Plan (ILP).
Midway through you will have a key Progress Tutorial and at the end you will attend a Next Steps Meeting to discuss your progression.
Applications are not yet open for 2023/2024. Applications for Progressors and Returners will go live the week commencing 19th June. Applications for New Learners will go live 24th August. You will not be able to apply for Bursary Support until you have enrolled and received your college email address and password. This is used to log in.
Please direct all queries to [email protected]
In September the initial payment for Progressors and Returners will be paid the Friday before the start of term. In September we will have weekly payment dates for New Learners to receive their first payment once an application has been approved. The following payments and when these will be received will be broken down on the approval letter.
New learners MUST be able to fund travel and meals themselves for a minimum of one week at the start of term before the initial Bursary payment clears. Any costs for the first week will be reimbursed as per the eligibility guidelines.
To apply for a Bursary, learners must have their own bank accounts. This must be a current account (not a savings or Post Office account or similar). Please start the process of opening a bank account now if you do not already have one.