The field of Designing, Surveying and Planning in the Construction industry is a broad one, but highly important to the development of societies. The stages that go into construction require huge amounts of time and dedication, but ultimately results in great success!

This field is a great path to go down, and an increase in the workforce in this profession would be highly beneficial to the field, but one that includes more equality and balance would be a massive step forward for the reputation of construction. Construction is often seen as a ‘male’ job, and we want to help show that anyone, regardless of gender, can have a successful career in construction.

So, we want to present 5 reasons why this could be the perfect career choice for you, and kickstart your path in Construction: Design, Surveying and Planning!

1. Important work! As previously mentioned, this line of work is highly important in supplying new homes and buildings for towns and cities as the demand increases, and pre-empting this demand with the planning aspect of the sector.

2. Keeping busy! This career choice will be demanding in terms of needing to be easily adaptable to picking up new skills, as it will likely be ever changing, and you’ll be expected to keep up with what’s expected of you. However, this will mean the job will not get boring, and you’ll always be kept busy!

3. Specialised qualifications to get you in the job! The courses, including apprenticeships, T Levels and transition programmes, are offered to both school leavers and adults by Weston College. These courses are specifically designed to prepare you for this career choice, with a great balance of academic college learning for the theory side, and workplace experience to provide you with practical knowledge.

4. Specialise in your strongest area! After selecting which course is best suited to you, and completing the course, you will be able to decide which aspect of the sector is best suited to your natural skillset, and which you could see being your future career. Opportunities in the industry could include civil engineering, technical surveyor, architect, building technician, building control officer, town planning assistant and geospatial technician, along with many more.

5. Financially beneficial! Some of the careers listed above have great starting salaries, with the opportunity to progress and gain more qualifications while you work, for example a degree with UCW. The more skilled you become in your chosen sector, the more you will be financially rewarded! Construction Site Managers can earn, on average, £47,500!

Over 2,500 employers who work with Weston College are looking to attract their future workforce and give our learners great opportunities to begin their careers. Work placements are often a great way to begin your career, so by studying courses with Weston College and undertaking work experience, we hope to make the process of securing a job smoother and easier!

Starting out on a new career path is one of the most exciting things a young person can ever do. The learning of new skills, meeting new people in all sorts of different jobs, going to new places, and embracing what’s to come. At Thatchers we really appreciate what an important step taking on a new career is, and through our Early Careers Programme one of the most important things we can do is listen, encourage and offer the best training around.

We know that we have a huge responsibility to make sure you’re receiving the best advice, the best mentoring, and the best opportunities. And we’re helping you unlock your future.

We’re so lucky at Thatchers to be able to offer a range of apprenticeships and traineeships all based here at Myrtle Farm. Whatever your skill set, whatever your ambitions, come and talk to us. Give it a go - we’d love to hear from you.

Our apprentices have learned how to be cider makers, how to care for our orchards, and how to be part of our successful commercial team. Every day is different at Myrtle Farm, and if we ask our apprentices what they’ve got out of being part of the Thatchers family, we hear words such as confidence, self-esteem, skills, getting the best of both worlds, experience – and a career within a growing, successful company.

If hospitality is where you see your future, then we’ve got some great opportunities at our beautiful pub and restaurant, The Railway Inn, here in Sandford.

Through our brand new traineeships we’ve set up with Weston College, we’re now able to offer more opportunities at The Railway Inn – what could be a better way to learn and develop your skills within hospitality and catering.

Are you a creative and see yourself using your flair and technical skills as part of a dynamic kitchen team? Or do you have a love for meeting and greeting new people, offering the highest levels of customer service, and experiencing the buzz and excitement of working at events?

If you’re following a catering course at Weston College, we’d love to hear from you. Being a part of our traineeship could lead to a full-time position with Thatchers, or perhaps could lead to one of our award-winning apprenticeships.

We’ve currently got positions for a Trainee Commis Chef, working closely with our head chef James and his brilliant team. We looking for someone who can work in a fast paced and high pressured environment, and who has a flair and passion for delivering high standards of food. Or are you someone who would thrive in a public facing role that requires good initiative and attentiveness towards providing top quality service to every single customer. If so, then one of our front of house roles working with Leigh and her enthusiastic and passionate team may be for you.

We know these are more than just jobs. They could be your future. So we’ll be running skills workshops, masterclasses and a host of other training opportunities that will complement your college learning, and will form the basis of an exciting future within the hospitality industry.

Check out our website, or chat to Weston College Recruitment team. We look forward to being a part of your future!

- Emma Cox, Thatchers Cider 

Four Health and Social Care Alumni, Finn, Jade, Nonna and Emily, had a long overdue reunion with their teacher, Sarah-Jane, a week ago. We were able to catch up with them to find out what they had been up to in their time since leaving the college, including their time so far at university, and their plans for the future.

The four had all progressed onto university courses in the Health and Social Care field, with Jade, Finn and Nonna opting for Adult Nursing, and Emily completing Paramedic Sciences.

Each student excitedly spoke about how their level 3 course at college prepared them for the tricky transition up to university, Finn sharing, “It was quite hard for a little bit because we were using Zoom – we used zoom and teams sometimes at college so it helped to prepare us, but trying to meet new people was difficult. Sarah-Jane used to teach us in the way that uni lecturers do though, where they put the slides on the screen and just talk. That definitely helped us get used to that style of teaching!”

Jade commented, “I actually found the transition really easy! The first module was basically what I had learnt at college, which made me more confident as I knew what I was doing. My first assignment was similar to ones we’d done previously at college, so I felt fully prepared!”

The students also shared their favourite part of studying at Weston College; Finn told us, “Undoubtedly the social side. I’m not from Weston so I didn’t know anyone when I first started, but you meet so many people so quickly. It really helps build your social skills which is so important when going into Nursing.”

Nonna and Jade added, “The lessons in the Sim Room (the simulation industry-standard hospital ward on campus) were incredibly helpful in preparing us for the nitty gritty of personal care, as well as the work placements we were lucky enough to complete. Both of these helped all of us out so much in getting a head start on our courses at uni!”

Our four learners all hope to go into nursing after gaining their degree! Finn hopes to specialise in burns and trauma, and plans on staying in the nursing career for “the next forty odd years”! Jade is looking into working in sexual health, though recently did a placement on an endoscopy unit which she also found really interesting. Nonna plans to travel with her nursing degree, and hopes it can take her to Australia. Emily would love to become a paramedic, and in the future specialise in critical care.

Congratulations to all our amazing alumni for how far they’ve come since leaving college, and good luck for their incredibly promising futures!

If you're interested in courses in Health and Social Care, click here!

What makes a good teacher? Endless qualifications and certificates? An encyclopaedic knowledge of a given subject? Here at Weston College, we have always stood by the belief that lived experience is far superior to any badge or certification. First person knowledge and in-depth understanding of real industry practice is what makes a good teacher! 

Engineering, as an industry, is so diverse and can be suited to so many people; it’s a huge combination of different sectors, including chemical, composite, civil and electrical engineering. When studying, you will have the opportunity to find out which aspect is your favourite, which is best suited to you, and which you’d most like to specialise in as you progress to higher levels.

As the industry is highly technical and is highly difficult to succeed in without substantial prior training, it can be financially beneficial to make up for it! The starting salary is higher than an average graduate, at around £26,000. As well as having the training and knowledge, you will also develop a huge number of transferable skills to have with you in the workplace, as well as in your personal life, including communication, leadership, and critical reasoning.

Another huge benefit of working in Engineering is its ever-changing nature, so where technology develops and evolves, it will be part of your job to pre-empt, adapt and learn about these new changes. This will result in a job that you’ll never get bored of!

By studying with us to gain your qualifications in Engineering, you’ll be able to find out about the Careers Excellence Hub, which will include many career-boosting benefits, as well as working alongside and hearing from huge names in the engineering industry, for example Airbus and GKN.

Plus, when studying with Weston College, the level you enter in won’t matter as we provide education for all levels, and in different formats. For example, if you would benefit and learn best from nearly all hands-on work, plus a wage, an apprenticeship would be ideal. However, if you felt some days looking at theory while in the classroom would be better suited, a T Level could be the course for you. We want to help you find the best suited course for you!

There is also predicted to be a shortage of engineers by around 2026, meaning there is no better time to begin studying towards qualifying, as the shortage may be lessened by an influx of learners beginning to train now! Furthermore, as engineering is currently perceived much more as a male dominated career path, our goal is for that stereotype to be overwritten, and create more equality in the industry, eventually eradicating the idea that it’s male dominated.

If you're interested in pursuing a career in engineering, click on the links to find out about the opportunities offered at Weston College to 16-19s, and to adults!

Are you interested in pursuing a career in Software Development? Read our top tips on how you can get started today! 

What does a Software Developer do? 

Software Developers are an essential part of our ever-expanding digital world, but what do they actually do? Well, the simplest answer is, a lot! Software Developers’ work is vast and diverse. That film you watched on Netflix last night? The tweet you just sent from your phone? The new video game you cannot wait to play? All of that is thanks to Software Developers!  

Software Developers use their specialist programming skills to design, develop and test new software. This could be for a variety of areas - from online shopping retailers like ASOS, to social media platforms like Twitter and TikTok. The job of a Software Developer is to ensure the user’s experience always reaches optimum levels by creating code, fixing bugs and continuously assessing the software to make improvements and adaptations. 

Average Software Developer salary: £24K - £70K (According to Gov.uk) 

Software Developer jobs:  

• Applications Developer 

• Web Designer 

• Game Developer 

• Software Engineer 

Does this sound like your kind of job? Read on to find out how to get there! 

The Best Place to Start 

To begin your journey towards a career in Software Development, find a course that will start from the beginning and support you to learn and hone the skills you need. Our T Level in Digital: Production, Design and Development or Software Development Technician Apprenticeship would be great places to start! A lot of jobs in the industry also require degree level education to access those higher progression routes. Luckily, there are a number of relevant courses available here in Weston-super-Mare through University Centre Weston (UCW): BSc (Hons) Applied Computing and Digital User Experience (UX) Degree Apprenticeship. 

The BSc (Hons) Applied computing programme is a full-time 3 year degree that is delivered in partnership with the West of England Institute of Technology – designed to collaboratively tackle skill shortages by providing relevant courses that directly link to industry demands. 

Decide on Your Goals 

Before you embark on your Software Development journey, have a think about where you see yourself in 3-5 years time. Do you want to work for an education provider or a game development company? Would you prefer to work in an office or remotely? Maybe you see yourself working freelance or for an agency?  

Deciding what you want out of your career will help you navigate your training. Perhaps you need to think about a specific area you should develop your skills in. For example, if you want to pursue a career in a marketing, do you need to grow your understanding of GDPR and how information is properly stored? 

Once you have a clear idea of where you want to go, you can streamline and personalise your training or studies to better suit your goals.  

Learn the Language 

One of the most crucial ingredients in becoming a Software Developer is learning a programming language! For a successful career in this industry, you will need a good core understanding of one or more of the following:  
 
Java - is a programming language that works across a multitude of platforms including Android and the internet – primarily used for developing server-side applications. 
 
Python – Generally considered the simplest and easiest to learn, Python is an excellent place to start if you’re new to the world of programming! 
 
C/C++ - Used for a wide range of programming including software engineering, data structures, game programming, developing browsers, operating systems and applications. 
 
Scala – Developed as a 'new and improved’ version of Java, Scala is an object-oriented language used for functional programming and strong static systems. 

Find Your Niche 

While you study and improve your skills in the art of developing software, start to consider what you, as a Software Developer, want your niche to be. A niche is essentially a specialism – something that you’re great at, that will make employers and clients want YOU.  

Maybe you want to progress into a career in web design, so gaining a fully comprehensive flare in Wordpress or other content management systems (CMS) like Squarespace or Wix would be great for your portfolio!  

Here are some more examples of areas you might find your niche: 

• App Design/Development 

• Data Science 

• Cybersecurity 

Produce Your Portfolio  

Make sure you’re collating everything you create into a portfolio! Think of your portfolio as an extension of your CV, something that will let you say, “I am an incredible Software Developer, and this is why!”  

As you progress and develop, start to refine and curate your portfolio to reflect your absolute best work – ensuring that work is in-line with the Software Development jobs you want to apply for.  

What should my portfolio include? 

• Name and contact information 

• Link to your CV 

• Examples of your highest quality work 

If you stick to these top tips, along with committing time and effort into your studies, you’ll be a Software Developer before you know it! 

To explore our options in Computing and Digital Technologies click here. 

To find out more about UCW’s Higher Education opportunities in Software Development, click here. 

Business is one of the most popular degrees in UK universities, as well as one of the most popular choices for 16-18s. Though there will be many contributing reasons as to why, a major factor is learners wanting to develop a deeper understanding of the continuously changing business environment, and how it reacts to what goes on in the world. Completing the qualification will give an opportunity to the learner to become a part of it and progress through the business world.

So, here’s 5 reasons why a business qualification could be the best decision you make for your career!

1. Business is made up of a huge number of different sectors. By completing a qualification before launching into the workplace, you’ll get the opportunity to discover which aspect of Business you have the most passion for, and which is best suited to your natural skillset in order to succeed.

2. Once you’ve decided which sector of Business is best suited to you, you’ll discover there’s Business related jobs in almost every job sector imaginable, for example sport, fashion, education, hospitality and entertainment, so you will have the chance to choose which wider sector you wish to work in. You could even take these opportunities abroad if working overseas is of interest to you.

3. While learning and working, you’ll create and develop a huge number of new skills. These will be highly transferrable to new adventures in your work life, for example a great combination of essay writing skills, but also mathematics skills for the finance and accounting aspect of Business. Some skills you develop will also prove useful in your personal life too. High quality communication skills, for example, will be as beneficial in your personal life as much as in the workplace.

4. Business offers the ability to progress in the workplace, with performance reviews and promotion opportunities. Having the ability to progress will help with your career satisfaction, the chance to take on new challenges, and an increase in your engagement day to day. Therefore, having a qualification before entering the workplace will heighten the chances of progression, by providing you with knowledge to secure promotions.

5. You can make Business qualifications adaptable to you! With the ability to start studying Business at any age over 16, it’s not too late sign up to one of our many Business courses; Apprenticeships, T Levels, A Levels, BTEC, and degree/degree apprenticeship

If you’re interested in a qualification in Business to lead you to a career, click:

- Here for more information about studying Business at Weston

- Here for A Level/BTEC

- Here for T Level

- Here for Apprenticeships

- Here for Degrees in Business at UCW