Exams are just around the corner and revision is getting into full flow. We want to help make the process as painless as possible for you, so we have looked into 5 revision apps which you can download right now to get you prepared for exam season...

Gojimo

Gojimo was created by the Telegraph and is the UK’s most popular revision app, giving you access to over 40,000 practice questions. This app covers a wide range of subjects, from exam boards such as AQA, CCEA, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC. The app features questions from 28 GCSE subjects, and 20 A Level subjects, giving you a great platform to prepare for your exams. 

The app is also a great tool to track your progress, and by taking the quizzes it can be a fun way of revising. It will give you instant feedback and also detailed explanations which can help you learn from your mistakes. 

Quizlet

Quizlet allows you to create study sets and according to research 95% of students who learn with Quizlet improved their results. Through Quizlet you can access revision cards which have already been made, or you can create your own to share with your friends. There are also games which offer a different way to test your skills and learn new information.

Revision App

The suitably named app has over one million revision notes, flashcards and quizzes. If you are a visual learner then you can also watch videos, allowing you to go back over any topics that you don’t feel quite so confident with. By offering such a variety of tools, this app will help ensure you feel suitably prepared for your exams. 

This app makes it easier for store all your revision tools in one place, as you can tailor the app to your courses and level.

SelfControl

If you are a procrastinator then this app will allow you to make more effective use of your time. SelfControl blocks websites in a set time period to stop the temptation of checking your newsfeeds and helps you to put your full focus on the task at hand.

Simple Mind

This app gives you the chance to create mind maps, it is easy to use and allows you to colour code, add images and keep all the vital information you need in one easily accessible place. An advantage of this app is that you can use it across platforms, so whether it be on your computer at home, or on your phone whilst out and about, this is a great revision tool.

On Monday 2nd July, Weston College’s Rolls-Royce apprentices took a trip to the famous RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. The apprentices are training to be aircraft engine fitters and this was a great opportunity for them to see up close the engines that Rolls-Royce produce on the airfield at an RAF base.

The students got to view an Airbus 330, an A400M and then had the privilege of going on board a Hercules C130J for a closer look! This gave them the chance to see the Rolls Royce engines in a real life situation. They also witnessed an Osprey aircraft doing some manoeuvres above the air field.

The students that visited the site have spent the first year at Weston College’s South West Skills Campus undertaking their Rolls-Royce Engineering Apprenticeships taking a mixture of academic subjects and hands on engineering workshop training. The College prides itself on delivering training specific to each company it works with and opportunities to visit places such as Brize Norton further enrich the students’ experience on their course.

Mick Jones, Aerospace Lecturer at Weston College said “All the students really enjoyed the trip and felt they had a greater appreciation of where all the work they do at Filton ends up, plus they could see first-hand why the quality of their work is so important! “

If you are interested in becoming a Rolls-Royce Apprentice please contact our Apprenticeship Team on 01934 411594 or click here to find out more.

You can’t stand still in the world of further education.

The environment is constantly evolving, with cuts to funding, changes in priorities and the introduction of new qualifications keeping us constantly on our toes.

At Weston College, we take great pride in our ability to stay ahead of the curve and innovate – making sure our learners benefit from the most up-to-date, learning environment and resources.

The growth of our sixth-form is a prime example.

In recent years Weston College sixth form has grown significantly in student numbers and stature, but we’re not standing still.

We’re incorporating three ground-breaking developments into our sixth-form provision, to increase the student places we currently offer, and equip learners with the skills they need to succeed in the modern workplace.

Firstly, we’ve been selected alongside 53 other providers across the UK to pilot the new T Level qualification.

T Levels focus on preparing young people for the workplace, and include a 45-day industry placement. Weston College will deliver the Digital (software applications design and development) ‘programme’ from September 2020 – two years before the full roll-out.

T Levels have been described as the biggest overhaul in post-school education for 70 years and, for us to be at the forefront of this roll-out represents a tremendous opportunity for school leavers in Weston and beyond.

Secondly, we recently became one of 22 providers to be awarded Career College status.

Career Colleges enable school leavers to combine academic studies with practical learning, and focus on providing skills for industry that have found it difficult to recruit.

‘Weston Career College’ is due to open in September 2019 and will focus on engineering and digital ‘pathways’. Courses will be Level 3 (the equivalent to and A Level) and could include a combination of A Levels and technical qualifications.

The exciting developments will enable the College to provide an extra 1,000 places for 16 to 19-year-olds.

The third significant development is the £13 million Health and Active Living Skills Centre, which will be based alongside the existing sixth form at the Loxton Road Campus.

This flagship training facility, due to be completed in spring 2019, will bring together our health and social care, sports therapy and active living curricula into one bespoke facility. A state-of-the-art resource that our Sixth Form learners will also benefit from.

The above investment has been made possible by the College match-funding a successful bid for funding from the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) through the Local Growth Fund, administered by the West of England Combined Authority.

Its superb facilities – including wet lab, dry lab and six-bed simulation ward – are tailor-made to provide workplace skills, as will the running external clinics, delivered with healthcare partners. It will also include a floodlit all-weather pitch, four-court multi-purpose sports hall and multi-gym, which will all be available to the community.

The College is already one of the most successful sixth forms in the UK, achieving a 99% A Level pass rate year after year, and providing the skills the young people need in the modern workplace. We offer learners a choice of over 30 A Levels subjects – from Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Maths to Psychology, Philosophy and Photography – all taught by expert teachers at our lively and vibrant Loxton Campus.

The new developments will complement our existing high-quality sixth form provision and, we believe, will create one of the most sophisticated sixth form centres in the UK.

‘Devised’ was a five-week project, culminating in a theatre performance made up of short stories by students on the Level 2 and 3 Performing Arts courses.

Students were split into groups and tasked with creating their own theatre companies. They conducted interviews addressing serious issues such as eating disorders, loss and mental health, and used the content to write scripts. This technique is known as ‘verbatim’ and was inspired by studying the theatre company ‘DV8’.

The performance, at Berkoff Theatre in Weston, was a huge success and earned high praise from numerous members of the public.

This is one audience member’s reaction to the performance:

“What an incredible show. Devised was simply superb, beautiful and emotional. I could add more superlatives but it wouldn’t do justice to the outstanding acting, emotion and expression.

“The opening scene was incredible. It was about missing people and there were some amazing messages coming through about the pain and suffering of those whose loved ones have gone missing. I was on the edge of my seat. Tears did start rolling down my face though, and that was just the opening scene!

“I could go on and on about Devised. As a therapist who works with many of the issues and themes that were acted out, I was able to relate to so much of it on a professional level. The piece on addiction was outstanding and all the themes throughout this play resonated with the work I do.

“All of the young people in this play were excellent. A massive thank you to the Creative Arts Department for empowering all the young people on the Level 3 Performing Arts course to produce this show. It was stunningly brilliant.”

Amazing make-up and incredible costumes…

The Production Arts Runway took place earlier this week and wowed an audience with a runway performance of technically stunning body art, hair and costumes. All of these were designed and put together by our second year Production Arts learners and focused around a superhero/supervillain theme, hence the title of the runway: ‘Kryptonite’. This showcase of talent formed part of the learner’s Final Major Project; supported by the Performing Arts students, in the form of as dancers and models.

From concept to creation, the Production Arts learners had been working on their final characters for 10 weeks. ‘Runway day’ began with learners starting preparation from 8am, working on their models for over 8 hours to perfect their full body artwork. The final result was a stunning, diverse display featuring amazing body painting, make-up, hair, props and incredible costumes.

Overall, the evening was a fantastic success with high praise coming from both parents and staff.

Kirsten Harrison, Lecturer in Production Arts, commented: “We are all incredibly proud of our learners. They have all worked exceptionally hard and have come a long way since starting their journey with us. They have developed into extremely strong and capable make-artists. Each one of them have a bright future in creative industry.

“All of our learners will be progressing onto university level courses or the brilliant UAL pre-degree programme. Words can hardly justify how extremely proud we are.”

The Production Arts Runway was part of SWATCH, the annual Creative Arts Summer Festival, showcasing work from students spanning over multiple weeks across various venues in Weston-super-Mare.

Click here to read more about the other upcoming events from Creative Arts Summer Festival

Well done to all those who took part and a massive thank-you to staff that co-ordinated and helped these learners reach their full potential.

Weston College is set to play a lead role in training the animal management staff of the future due to their new partnership with Puxton Park and funding from the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

The College has joined forces with Puxton Park, which will enable learners to develop industry-specific skills working within the park’s extensive farmland, facilities and wide range of farm and domestic animals, which will significantly enhance the employability skills of learners.

Puxton Park is providing 2050 m² land to the College to create the new £1.4m Animal Management Education Centre. Significant financial investment has been provided by the College’s successful bid for £990,000 funding from the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) through the Local Growth Fund, administered by the West of England Combined Authority.

The new centre will utilise low carbon techniques and create an inclusive education facility for delivery of the practical elements of the animal management curriculum.

The centre will comprise of three classrooms, storage, wash-space, toilets, office and a student breakout area.

Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Principal and Chief Executive of Weston College, said: “Puxton Park is an outstanding and well-known venue, boasting a huge range of facilities, resources and animals.”

“This innovative and exciting partnership provides a wealth of opportunities for learners, to develop practical skills with species to suit everyone’s interests from reptiles to large farm animals through to birds of prey.”

“With future skills gaps identified and the excellent access of Puxton Park on the A370, this partnership will allow us to develop our animal management provision and provide learners throughout the region with the skills they need to succeed in this exciting industry.”

Chair of the West of England LEP, Prof Steve West, said: “We are really pleased to support the new Animal Management Education Centre being delivered by Weston College in partnership with Puxton Park. It offers a learning facility which will meet increased demand and provide a sustainable future for high quality education and skills programmes aimed at meeting the needs of employers in the visitor economy and land-based sectors in the West of England.”

West of England Mayor, Tim Bowles said: “The new centre at Weston College will help prepare young people, apprentices and higher education students for successful careers in this important sector for the region. The use of low carbon techniques throughout the Animal Management Education Centre supports our ambitions for clean growth, as set out in our Local Industrial Strategy.”

Alistair Mead, Managing Director of Puxton Park, said: “We are proud to be working in partnership with Weston College.”

“Puxton Park was originally built with the intention of being an educational working farm. Over the past 12 years, the park has grown in many ways; however, our roots as a place of learning and growth are deeply ingrained in everything we offer which is why we feel so passionate about supporting and working with future veterinary nurses, animal keepers, animal scientists, farmers and vets.”

The animal care sector is forecast to grow by up to 12% by 2024 and you can still join the College to start this September and be one of the first learners to benefit from this exciting opportunity. Find out more about the College’s animal management courses below:

• Courses for 16-19 year olds
• Animal Management fdsc
• Access to Higher Educations courses

Weston College has been inspired by their recent win of the prestigious Employer of the Year at the Lloyds Bank National Business Awards. The College who are the 9th largest Further and Higher Education College in the country, have decided to commemorate winning by launching their national ‘Fresh Start’ business awareness campaign to encourage a sea of change to kick start ‘socially inclusive’ recruitment in the UK.

The idea is a simple one based around businesses pledging to be more open minded when considering CV’s in order to discover untapped talent from wider disadvantaged groups in society, who might be struggling to get a second chance at career employment.

Employers can sign up to the support the campaign using the following link: www.weston.ac.uk/fresh-start-campaign they will receive the ‘Proud to be a Fresh Start Employer’ logo which can be used to promote their support on their own website – thereby giving confidence to job applicants to know that their CV will be viewed with an open mind and looked at holistically.

The College’s Principal and Chief Executive Dr Paul Phillips CBE was inspired to create the campaign after winning such a prestigious award, he said; “We all know talented people who have struggled to return to employment after various life events whether this is someone who has been ill or cared for children or elderly relatives with a gap in their CV, or people who have recovered from episodes of mental ill health/addiction, or suffered stigma due to homelessness/existing prison, as well as disabled people or those struggling to transition from the armed services.

“If we can encourage more employers to display the ‘Proud to be a Fresh Start Employer’ logo, it will give hope and confidence to many job applicants out there, that there are a number of employers who have pledged to be that little bit more open minded when a CV arrives in their offices. In essence the ‘Fresh Start’ pledge and campaign is about opening doors and having honest conversations rather than closing opportunities and overlooking talent.”

Weston College is aiming to get 100 employers to sign the pledge by this time next year, as part of its wider strategy to increase social mobility, and to help businesses create inclusive and more diverse workplaces. All employers are encouraged to take the pledge and download and promote the logo, as a sign that they are a socially inclusive recruiter.

An upsurge of interest in Apprenticeships at Weston College is being celebrated to mark National Apprenticeship Week.

In recent years the number of Apprenticeships at the College has grown enormously, making Weston College one of the biggest facilitators of work-based training in the region.

More than 90 per cent of College apprentices are now retained by their employers after their training period has finished, and the College works with around 1,000 employers from across the region.

This week (March 3-7) is National Apprenticeship Week and College-related events have been going on all over the area.

A Weston College-branded stand in Weston-super-Mare’s Sovereign shopping centre attracted passers-by interested in information about Apprenticeships.

The College also visited eight schools including ones in Bridgwater, Clevedon and Nailsea. Children were given an introduction to Apprenticeships, including a talk from an employer, and employment taster sessions were on offer.

It also marked the launch of ‘100 in 100’, a College-led bid, supported by the National Apprenticeship Service and the Weston Mercury newspaper, to create 100 new Apprenticeships in 100 days. One of the key aims of the campaign is to raise awareness of the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers (AGE), which is available for eligible businesses who take on a young apprentice.

One of the week’s highlights was the Skills Show, which took place at the Winter Gardens on Tuesday March 4. Around 3,000 people - including many local schoolchildren turned out for the European Social Fund and Local Enterprise Partnership-funded event, which was facilitated by Weston College.

Major local employers were on hand to give advice and offer taster sessions in catering, construction, business, hair and beauty and healthcare.

Tim Walsh, 20, a Weston College apprentice working at DoubleTree at Hilton Cadbury House Hotel in Congresbury, was mixing non-alcoholic cocktails with Max Bennett, another College apprentice at the same hotel and a WorldSkills award winner.

Tim, of Winscombe, said: “I’m loving the apprenticeship and it’s given me a great deal of confidence in connecting with customers and delivering the best I can.”

Max, 19, added: “It’s great to be at the Skills Show and we’re getting a lot of interest in what we’re doing. Hopefully this might lead on to some new employees in the future.”

James Wilmot, Weston College Apprenticeship Recruitment Coordinator, said: “The popularity of this week’s events proves how strong the interest in Apprenticeships is, which is borne out by the variety of Apprenticeships we offer.

“Increasingly, it seems, young people are seeing Apprenticeships as a way to earn while they learn and this interest is helping to generate many worthwhile placements leading to greater opportunities.”

The outstanding achievements of Weston College students, staff and business associates were honoured this week (4th November), at a glamourous ceremony held at the Winter Gardens, Weston-super-mare.

The ‘Celebration of Success’ was a chance for the hundreds of guests attending to hear remarkable personal stories from across all sectors of the College.

Parents, friends and business guests were treated to a three-course meal cooked under the direction of Andrew Walker, executive chef at Chartwells – the leading provider of catering and support services to the UK education sector.

The event was hosted by Dr Paul Phillips, Weston College’s Principal and Chief Executive, who unveiled the awards with the assistance of guest speaker Nicki Chapman – music industry insider, former judge on ITV’s ‘Pop Idol’ and now popular BBC television and radio presenter.

She said: “This is one of the most outstanding colleges in the UK. I left school at 16 and did not go to university. If I had had the opportunities that Weston College gives people today, it would have given me such a leg-up in my career.”

One of the night’s biggest success stories was Amanda Hunter, who won the Access to Higher Education Student of the Year award.

"Being at Weston College has been one of the best experiences of my life,” she said. “The staff have been brilliant and really supportive, setting me up very well for university life."

Amanda returned to education after several years away, with the aim of going to university in the hope of eventually working in a children's ward.

"I am now studying at the University of the West of England, and it's all thanks to Weston College.

"If you have always dreamed of going to university but think you have missed your chance, I would say it's never too late; Weston College has helped me do it, and can do it for you, too."

Other winners included Alex Tucker, who studied Contemporary Art and Professional Studies BA (Hons) in partnership with Bath Spa University and won a Higher Education award at the event.

“Words cannot come close to describing what Weston College has done for me,” he said. “I am so grateful.”

Alex graduated in June and has recently sold his artwork for in excess of £40,000. Owners of his art include the Stone Roses and Banksy.

“I would not like to think where I would be now if I had not come here; Weston College has saved me.”

Both GKN Aerospace and Ipeco Composites won the Business of the Year award. Paul Ashbee, Training and Development Manager at GKN, said: "The whole evening was really good! I attend awards across the UK, but I thought tonight had a real personal touch that emphasises just how much the staff and the learners really enjoy the learning process."

Martin Napper, Chief Executive of the event’s main sponsor Castletan Group, said: “It was a superb evening, and really inspiring. I was taken aback by the degree of skill and talent in Weston, and we want that talent to work with us!”

Dr Phillips said: “The awards presented tonight are testament to the success of the ethos which permeates throughout the College, of putting the student at the heart of everything we do and strive to do.

“Our students thrive in such an environment and that’s why recognising and celebrating their successes gives me such a strong sense of satisfaction and pride.”

For more photos of the event visit the College’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/westoncollege.