Programmes for School Leavers
Courses for 16 to 18-year-olds
COURSES FOR SCHOOL LEAVERS
With hundreds of unique, exciting and inspiring programmes to choose from, everything you need to create your brighter future is waiting for you at Weston College.
From the minute you walk through the door, the experience and the environment that we create is all about maximising your potential. It’s about preparing and motivating you for a fresh and focused career pathway.
Every Weston College student becomes part of one of our exciting new Career Excellence Hubs. This means you will take part in a study programme with lots of career boosting benefits, all with the aim of help you to go further, giving you the opportunity to become career ready with the skills, knowledge and expertise you need to be successful in your next step and reach your ultimate goal - whatever that may be!
Whether you are looking for the next step after school or the next step in your career, we're bound to have a programme for you. Take a look below at the different types of qualifications available for school leavers and young people between 16 and 18 years old.
Did you know we also run English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)?
Start your brighter future by selecting a subject you're interested in below, and don't forget - you can apply online and it only takes 5 minutes!
Discover our range of courses for school leavers aged 16-18 using the search options below...
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Qualifications Explained
At Weston College we know that everyone learns differently. That’s why we deliver a variety of different qualification types - to give you the chance to learn in the way that suits you the most.
A Levels
A Levels develop the knowledge, skills and study habits to excel at university, as well as the attributes recognised by employers. Your academic studies will be complemented with enrichment opportunities such as trips, mentoring and work experience, providing the perfect springboard for your future career. A Levels are assessed through exams at the end of two years of study. Most learners study three subjects - some choose four.
Apprenticeships
With an apprenticeship you’ll go straight into the workplace and be shown clear routes to progress straight into employment within a specific occupation. You can achieve nationally recognised qualifications, earn a wage, and gain skills that will see you get ahead. On average you will spend 20% of your learning time in the college and 80% within the workplace..
Professional and Technical Qualifications
Professional and technical qualifications are designed to provide you with the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to gain employment within specific industries or occupations. They provide a balance between theory and practical skills development. They are suited to those who want to get hands-on experience within a particular vocational area. These programmes include work placements. Assessment is more varied and will include exams, coursework and practical work.
Traineeships
Traineeships are a great way for 16 to 24-year-olds who haven’t yet gained the skills and experiences necessary to apply for jobs and apprenticeships. They are taught mostly in the workplace and include a mixture of personal and social development, and employability skills. The aim of a traineeship is to train you within a company so that you are more likely to be offered an apprenticeship or a job.
T Levels give you the chance to learn what a real career is like while you continue your studies. T Levels have been designed with leading businesses and employers to give you the knowledge and skills you need, including a minimum of 45 days on an industry placement – this means you will spend 80% of your learning time in College and 20% within the workplace.
CHOOSING WHAT TO STUDY
We are all about CAREERS NOT COURSES and pride ourselves on being able to offer a huge range of programmes to ensure you develop the skills and knowledge employers and universities are looking for. As the only education provider in North Somerset that enables you to work your way up from an entrylevel programme to a degree, we’re here to help you choose the right programme for you.
We can help you choose your study programme or apprenticeship by accessing the following support:
School Liaison Team
Working with local schools we help you find out about college life and programmes of study, and we provide you with advice and guidance about what programmes will best suit you. We will either visit your school, attend careers fairs and parents’ evenings or coordinate campus and virtual events such as our taster days, holiday workshops and tours.
Events
We put on a number of events over the year, which will be a mixture of face-to-face and virtual events. These provide you and your family with the opportunity to explore our facilities, speak to our lecturers, find out about the support on offer and choose the right programme for you. Our events also give you the opportunity to engage with a number of employers to find out about careers in their industry and why they value the calibre of candidates that come from Weston College.
CAREERS ADVICE
- On our website you can access a wealth of career guidance, such as:
- All the programmes you can study.
- What our alumni have gone on to achieve.
- Labour Market Intelligence (LMI) that will help explain what relevant careers and jobs are available, including salaries.
- NEW – Subject careers roadmaps, so you can map your journey with us and ensure it will get you into your chosen career. Also, check out Career Coach - this provides you with the opportunity to:
- Take an assessment that matches you with careers.
- Explore broad career pathways that match your strengths and interests.
- Compare careers within a pathway - including salaries, required education and more.
- Explore our programmes that will set you on the path to your desired career.
- Take a career assessment - and receive an in-depth report that can help you identify the best programme and career path for you!
We’re here and happy to help – if you would like more advice and guidance, contact our school liaison team by emailing schoolteam@weston.ac.uk. - they you can arrange a one-to-one careers appointment with our specialist staff.
LATEST NEWS
<p style="margin-bottom:8px;">This week, our Level 3 TV, Film & Creative Production students received a guest lecture from two members of the Production Management team at Wildstar Films, Sadie Coles and Miranda Pincott, who are also from Weston-Super-Mare.</p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;">During this informative talk, Sadie and Miranda went through their career paths that led them to production management, what the roles entail, the adventures and misadventures of the job, the career ladder of production management, and what other characteristics you need to work in film.</p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;">The components outlined in the talk helped the students gain a better understanding of different aspects of TV and film that they perhaps hadn’t considered, outside of the glamourous filming and directing itself, and allowed them to review possible career paths that often go unnoticed.</p><drupal-entity alt=""Wildstar Films Visiting Our Level 3 TV, Film & Creative Production students"" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="df4fc44f-aad5-4f66-adcb-b010a09ac9fd" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{"image_style":"max_500x500","image_link":"","image_loading":{"attribute":"lazy"}}"> </drupal-entity><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;">Wildstar Films is a production company that collaborates with National Geographic, Disney+, and DisneyNature to make “inspirational and ground-breaking shows about the natural world”. They have created many shows including 'Queens', 'Tiger', 'America’s National Parks', and many more, and have been nominated for a Wildscreen Panda Award for their Production Management Team in 'Queens'. They also have films in production that are due to come out on Disney+ in 2025 including the Sentient and Underdogs which is voiced over by Ryan Reynolds.</p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;">Production Management is a less well-known area of TV production as it consists of many factors that people don’t necessarily consider. These factors include travel, insurance, budget, permits, legal, visas, kit, fixers, crew contracts, and accommodation. These are all important logistics to consider when filming and production management must sort it all to ensure there are no obstacles when it comes to filming.</p><drupal-entity alt=""Wildstar Films outlining the logistics behind Production Management"" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d3a11a2f-3f1b-407d-8c40-5b51133f612f" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{"image_style":"max_500x500","image_link":"","image_loading":{"attribute":"lazy"}}"> </drupal-entity><p style="margin-bottom:8px;"> </p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;">Like many jobs, there are challenges and mishaps that must be overcome when working in production management. This can be anywhere from forgetting equipment, to misinforming an airline of the amount kit being brought. However, the students were also shown the benefits of working in film, such as getting the opportunity to travel, getting nominated for awards, and even have the chance to work with celebrities like David Attenborough!</p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;">Lynsey, Strategic Partnership Manager at Weston College, who attended the talk, said “a big thank you to Wildstar Films, a very valued Career Excellence Hub partner for our Creative Media Faculty. Today, Miranda and Sadie delivered a superb guest lecture on campus to showcase production careers in natural geographic programming.</p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;">It was eye opening and awe inspiring, and hopefully will direct our learners into a potential career. The talented production teams behind these incredible programs provided our students with invaluable insights into the industry.”</p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;">Sadie and Miranda both started out low on the ladder, either as apprentices or volunteers, and worked their way up. Miranda is the Production Manager after 30 years in TV production, sharing her career progression with the students to let them know that it is commitment and hard work that will pay off in the end.</p><drupal-entity alt=""Wildstar Films outlining the career progression in Production Management"" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="bc4d4224-a800-4b3c-b447-2948be18ad01" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{"image_style":"max_500x500","image_link":"","image_loading":{"attribute":"lazy"}}"> </drupal-entity><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;">The overall message that Wildstar Films communicated to the students was that, to work in the film industry, you need to be prepared to start from the bottom and work your way up. You can’t go into it with the expectation that you’ll start at the top. Also, it is important to get work experience where you can, whether that is paid or volunteering, you need to show that you’re interested and committed to the role.</p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;">A massive thank you to Wildstar Films for their fantastic guest talk and for giving our Level 3 TV, Film & Creative Production students the chance to see an alternative film career pathway.</p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;"><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/creat…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/creat…; target="_blank">If you're interested in joining one of our Creative and Digital Media Courses in September, click here.</a></p>
<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW255438541 BCX8" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;-webkit-user-drag:none;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);clear:both;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);cursor:text;direction:ltr;font-family:"Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;overflow:visible;padding:0px;position:relative;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;user-select:text;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Over the last couple weeks, not only have the Esports course upgraded their systems and facilities, but the students have also had the pleasure of receiving a talk by the former head coach and current assistant coach of Fnatic, Jake “mini” Harris. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Fnatic is one of the top Esports organisations in the world and “mini” shared his journey with the students of how he became the coach of one of the world’s top Valorant teams. He discussed the importance of fostering a team culture of openness, professionalism, and communication as this was the key to Fnatic's continued success. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">The main message that “mini” provided the students was that to be successful in anything, not just the Esports community, hard work is required, and a lot of additional time invested beyond the time you get within a classroom environment. It is also very important to network within your desired industry and get involved in events so you can get your name out there.</span></p><drupal-entity alt=""Jake 'mini' Harris professional talk to students"" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="de95c7d5-97ec-4cbe-8f8b-d220afa13960" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{"image_style":"max_500x500","image_link":"","image_loading":{"attribute":"lazy"}}"> </drupal-entity><p> </p></div><div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW255438541 BCX8" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color:transparent;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;-webkit-user-drag:none;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);clear:both;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);cursor:text;direction:ltr;font-family:"Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web", Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;font-size:12px;font-style:normal;font-variant-caps:normal;font-variant-ligatures:normal;font-weight:400;letter-spacing:normal;margin:0px;orphans:2;overflow:visible;padding:0px;position:relative;text-align:start;text-decoration-color:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;user-select:text;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;"><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">In order to provide more opportunities for the students and help them progress, Weston College have upgraded their Alienware computers to a new setup based around ggRock, a system that is used by the top Esports colleges in the UK. </span></p><drupal-entity alt=""ggRock upgraded computer systems"" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="209378ab-14bb-4952-b56e-ad91e2d7502e" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{"image_style":"max_500x500","image_link":"","image_loading":{"attribute":"lazy"}}"> </drupal-entity><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Not only this, a brand new streaming room has been installed which will be used on a weekly basis in tandem with the British Esports games once they get up and running. The students will also be using it for their Live Streaming, Shoutcasting, and Events modules. </span></p><drupal-entity alt=""New Streaming Setup"" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="519f6640-470c-4ba1-b872-b26a749a9d6f" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{"image_style":"max_500x500","image_link":"","image_loading":{"attribute":"lazy"}}"> </drupal-entity><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:inherit;">On top of this, British Esports even requested to stream our Esports students’ first Valorant game on the main British Esports stream this week which has over 10.3K followers. To watch their stream, click the video below.</span></p><p><iframe src="https://player.twitch.tv/?video=2271591989&parent=www.weston.ac.uk&…; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no" height="378" width="620"></iframe></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Students who choose an Esports course can progress to university or an apprenticeship and have many career options available to them including Computing, Digital Marketing, Media, Sports, Business, and Esports. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">Even if you’re unfamiliar with Esports, that’s okay! As long as you have some kind of interest in gaming, the course allows you to develop your skills and explore potential pathways with excellent equipment, staff and facilities at your disposal. One lecturer, Will, says the most important attribute for a student considering Esports is for them to have a ‘positive attitude and a willingness to learn’. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><span style="font-size:inherit;">A big thank you to Jake “mini” Harris for telling his fantastic story, providing advice, and encouraging our learners to pursue their desired pathways. </span></p><p style="margin-bottom:8px;margin-left:0;margin-top:0px;"><a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/compu…; rel="noreferrer noopener" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/compu…; target="_blank">If you would like to study an Esports course at Weston College, click here.</a></p></div>
<p>We’re thrilled to announce that Kirsty Woods, our Apprenticeship Strategic Accounts Manager, was nominated for an award in the 'Allies and Influence' category at the National Federation of Builders Top 100 Most Influential Women in Construction Awards! Nominated by a supportive (and secret!) employer, Kirsty's recognition places her among the top 100 women influencers in the industry.</p><p>This nomination recognises individuals who are actively championing Equality, Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity through their actions. Since joining Weston College in 2022, Kirsty has made a tremendous impact, leveraging her industry connections to enhance opportunities for our learners. Her favourite aspect of her role is organising key industry events and creating progression pathways that directly support our construction students.</p><p>Congratulations, Kirsty! We’re absolutely delighted to see your hard work and dedication being recognised and celebrated!</p><drupal-entity alt="Kirsty Woods Award" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="7815a714-a51c-45e2-9acb-721e5b1b96c4" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{"image_style":"max_325x325","image_link":"","image_loading":{"attribute":"lazy"}}"> </drupal-entity><p> </p><p><span class="ui-provider a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z ab ac ae af ag ah ai aj ak" data-teams="true" dir="ltr"><strong>If you are passionate about education and are looking for an opportunity to join the staff team at a leading college, then look at the latest job vacancies available at Weston College </strong></span><a class="fui-Link ___1q1shib f2hkw1w f3rmtva f1ewtqcl fyind8e f1k6fduh f1w7gpdv fk6fouc fjoy568 figsok6 f1s184ao f1mk8lai fnbmjn9 f1o700av f13mvf36 f1cmlufx f9n3di6 f1ids18y f1tx3yz7 f1deo86v f1eh06m1 f1iescvh fhgqx19 f1olyrje f1p93eir f1nev41a f1h8hb77 f1lqvz6u f10aw75t fsle3fq f17ae5zn" href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/jobs?utm_source=main-menu&utm_medium=main-…; aria-label="Link here" id="menur3mi" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" title="https://www.weston.ac.uk/jobs?utm_source=main-menu&utm_medium=main-… class="ui-provider a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z ab ac ae af ag ah ai aj ak" data-teams="true" dir="ltr"><strong>here</strong></span></a><span class="ui-provider a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z ab ac ae af ag ah ai aj ak" data-teams="true" dir="ltr"><strong>. You can find all the latest job opportunities that Weston College has to offer, with a commitment to providing quality education for learners and a focus on continuous professional development for staff, Weston College is an excellent place to work and grow in your career.</strong></span></p>
