Swindon College

Swindon College is a further education college of 6,500 students located in the Wiltshire town of Swindon, offering a large range of vocational courses. The college opened a new multi-million pound construction campus in 2013.

Background and history

Swindon College has its roots in a technical college founded for workers in the rail industry in 1843. In 1896 a school of art was added to the technical college. The college has expanded over the decades and is now a mid-sized further education institution.

Location and accessibility

The college is split across three sites, with the main North Star Campus hosting the most courses. It is located just outside the town centre and benefits from a regular bus service, the 15/15A.

Swindon is situated along the pain Bristol/Paddington train route and is an important junction along the route. The train station is within handy distance of the college campus.

What's on offer?

The college has a wide range of vocational and work-based qualifications and, as of 2012, also offers A-level studies to its students. In addition, HE programmes operate through the college in partnership with Oxford Brookes University.

The college focuses on vocational education and work-placement training, as well as dealing with unemployment cases in the city.

Subject areas within the college include:

Art, Design, Media and Media Make-up, Beauty and Complementary Therapies, Business, Computing, Finance Science, Construction, Early Years, Engineering, Automotive Electrical, Hairdressing, Health and Social Care, Hospitality Catering, Sports Leisure, Uniformed Public Services, Travel Tourism, Vocational Studies and XLR8, A-level studies (introduced as of 2012).

Qualifications on offer include: BTECs, NVQs, A/AS-levels, as well as HND/Cs, Foundation Degrees, Postgraduate degrees and Masters.

Finance and funding

The college's finance and welfare department assist with the cost of learning with schemes in place like the 16-19 bursary, a National Scholarship Programme, career development loans and childcare benefit. It also has the capability to assist with travel costs by car, bus and train.

The Beauty Therapy Salon offers a wide range of treatments and products in the Equilibrium clinics which are run by highly experienced and qualified staff who oversee the work of the trainee students.

The Restaurant offers a realistic working environment for catering students who are closely supervised by professional-standard hospitality staff and tutors.

The Zone is an innovative social learning space which is available to all students and has space to use computers and personal laptops in a relaxed, fresh and modern environment.

Sports Therapy Clinic in addition to the college's sports and fitness facilities, it also runs a student-led clinic with treatments including: sports massages, injury assessment and rehabilitation advice.

Student Enrichment Centre is a facility specifically designed for relaxation, and offers a place for students to socialise and enjoy. It provides pool tables, live TVs, games consoles and refreshments.