Programme of Study

This is usually the largest component of the programme of study. It is externally accredited by an awarding organisation such as City & Guilds, University of the Art London or BTEC Pearson. You will follow a national syllabus for this qualification. The assessment method will vary according to the type, size and level of qualification.

You will have a named Achievement Tutor who will be responsible for holding regular 1-1 to monitor and support you in achieving your target grades. If you require additional support inside or outside the classroom, booster classes or any other support they will be there to guide you and ensure you stay on track.

Your Achievement Tutor will monitor your attendance and punctuality and make sure you are meeting the College target of 100%. We are committed to supporting you and ensuring you feel included and valued as an individual. We will provide you with opportunities to voice your opinion as well as challenge you to support your own development.

1-1 Tutorials

The Manchester College is committed to supporting individuals to achieve the best possible grades. We are committed to supporting learners to achieve their full potential and succeed on their course by supporting their personal development and welfare, reducing the impact of internal and external barriers to learning, developing employability skills and supporting progression onto further study and employment.

Along side your named Achievement Tutor you will have access to Student Mentors  Student Experience Safeguard Practitioners, Careers, Information, Advice and Guidance staff along with many other support services all who are there to support you in achieving your goals

All full-time 16-18 students will engage in an initial review and will have a minimum of three progress reviews (1-1’s) across your Programme of Study, with the conversation and outcomes recorded by their Achievement Tutor.

Why English and maths?

Achieving a GCSE grade 9-4 or Functional Skill Level 2 in both maths and English is necessary for you to progress to further study, training and skilled employment and to support you in achieving your career goals. The introduction of Government initiatives means that any student aged 16 to 19 who does not attain a 4 or above or a Functional Skill Level 2 in their maths and English will be supported to achieve this.

What does this mean?

Students will study English and/or maths alongside their full programme of study. This applies if you are aged 16-18, or 19-25 with an Education Health and Care plan (EHC), and have not already achieved a grade 9-4 or Functional Skill Level 2 equivalent in maths or English.

FAQ

I've got a Grade 4 / Grade C in English Literature. Does that count for English?

Yes it does! English Literature is classed as the same level of literacy required as the English Language GCSE.

What if I don’t turn up for my English and maths lessons?

English and maths are a significant part of every Programme of Study. They are not optional, and failure to attend and make a positive effort will result in disciplinary action; and you could lose your place on your course.

They are not optional, and failure to attend and make a positive effort will result in disciplinary action; and you could lose your place on your course.

What if I’ve already got a grade 4 or grade C in English or Maths?

Great! However you need to keep on developing your skills to support your main programme of study and progression. To encourage this we give students access to software called BKSB which assesses your current level and sets you tutorials to help you improve. During your induction you will be asked to complete a Diagnostic Assessment to help see what level you are currently at. This must be completed by the end of your second week.

How to log in to BKSB

From the Student Portal at the top of The Manchester College website, or directly from the BKSB link under ‘Study with us’ at the bottom or the page. You will then be asked to create your own password. Don’t forget it – we can’t unlock your account if you do! Please complete the English and maths Initial Assessments when you first log into BKSB. They can be found under ‘FOCUS Functional Skills’ on the front page.

Note: Your student number is your username.

Work Experience encompasses:

Work Placement - Where a student attends employer premises and completes specific work-related tasks, hours are allocated according to programme of study requirements. In some instances, a work-based assessor may also complete subject-specific formative and summative assessments. The student is required to complete a log of their learning and complete all relevant, associated paperwork.

Industry Placement - where the student attends employer premises and completes meaningful business-related activities. The student must complete a minimum of 315 hours with no more than 2 employers. The student is required to complete a log of their learning and complete all relevant paperwork associated.

Employability Skills/Studies - Refers to learning that takes place, usually on site and face-to-face, designed to develop students’ employability-related knowledge, skills and attitudes. It can be teacher-led or facilitated, student-centred learning.

Work Experience / Trips and Visits Consent 

We will ensure that we gather consent from parents, guardians and carers for 16 and 17 year olds for internal and external work experience activities and trips and visits. Students 18 and over are able to sign for their own consent. We will also gather any medical information that will be shared with the employer for work experience activities. Students will not be allowed on trips and visits unless this is received prior to the visit.

Medical Information

It is important that we are aware of any medical conditions that you may have so that we can make sure you are supported properly during your time at college or on trips and visits. These could be medical conditions such as asthma, hear conditions, epilepsy, hay fever, diabetes or anything else that may require medical treatment.  

We also need to know if you are allergic to anything or if you are taking any medication that may prohibit certain activities.

Image Consent

From time to time, we take photos and videos of our students and the great work taking place in and around college with regards to teaching, learning and assessment. We do this as it’s a great way to help us showcase the work we do as an education provider and to support what our students are achieving.

We often use photo and video for internal use (such as in and around the classroom) but we sometimes share externally also.

This means that we sometimes take photos and videos of our students and their work or activities they are involved in to share on social media where appropriate, such as Facebook and Twitter and also the college VLE (virtual learning environment). We believe there are great benefits in using photo and video to support our College community in this way however we will always ensure we are complying with Data Protection law (DPA 2018 and GDPR) with regards to how we are handling, storing and retaining this information where it is relevant.

For your information, the principles of the GDPR do not apply to photos and videos that are taken for personal use (such as taking photos of you and your friends at an event for the purpose of ‘personal use’). Whenever we are planning to take photos or video, we will inform you of our intention and should you wish to avoid having your photo taken, just inform us.

For more information on GDPR, visit: eugdpr.org
For more information on DPA 2018, visit: www.gov.uk/government/collections/data-protection-act-2018

Get More Out Of College

Enrichment is one of the best parts of student life at The Manchester College and it’s your opportunity to make the most of your time with us.
You will find a whole range of activities to get involved with, including groups to join and guest speakers to hear from. Most importantly, you’ll be learning and developing some fantastic skills that will enable you to become work ready.

Enrichment activities include:

• Themed events
• Sports
• Fundraising and Campaigning
• Volunteering
• Clubs and Societies
• College-wide Competitions
• Community Projects
• Guest Speakers
• Workshops
• Short Courses
• Duke of Edinburgh Award
• Trips and Visits

Enrichment Champions – Help create a positive change

Your Student Experience Team can provide you with all the information you need and you will also find information on your enrichment notice board as well as on the Student Hub.

Independent learning can take various forms, each of which could be classroom-based (or be carried out in College libraries or resource centres) or be remote/hybrid, whether online or paper-based. Courses might state that students are advised or required to undertake so many hours of independent learning each week in order to learn, practice and master everything the course involves. Independent learning takes two main forms: 

Directed independent learning is where the teacher has set one or more students specific research or work to complete, usually within a specific time period (although it could be more flexible than that). It might involve, for example, internet research or completion of activities in Moodle. It is always initiated by the teacher, whether it involves a single topic or a whole unit/module. It can be on site or remote, including online. Where a teacher instructs students to set time aside using Moodle to catch up on several lessons missed through illness, we would categorise it as directed independent learning. 

Independent self-study is where a student decides to undertake additional learning on their own initiative. It’s often more motivated students who choose to put additional time into extending or reinforcing their knowledge, understanding and skills. It may be on site or remote, including online. It could take the form of wider reading, internet research or watching documentaries on TV/PC.

You can find a full list of term dates here .