Student Life at College

Changing and starting something new can be exciting but also really scary. Meeting new people, learning new names and getting used to different routines can sometimes feel really overwhelming.

Within this blog, Joe Baldwin, our Assistant Principal Learner Journey takes you through some of the varied support and opportunities available to you at Bridgend College.

This is the final of our ‘Post 16 Choices’ blog series and focuses on life as a student at college and focuses specifically on some of the support available at Bridgend College. If you’ve missed our previous blog posts in the series, you can read them here:

Blog 1: Life Beyond GCSEs. Your Next Steps

Blog Two: Technical and professional Vs the academic route

Most of our full-time courses are three to four days a week, which allows students to undertake work experience, take up voluntary opportunities and hobbies or secure part-time employment.

Life at college can feel quite different to school – different course areas have different timetables and you are expected to be in college on different days and, because of this, we don’t have a bell to notify students of lesson times and breaks.

The college does not have a uniform although we expect all students to wear a lanyard with an ID card. Lots of courses will have specific equipment and uniform requirements to ensure that you are safe and meet industry standards (for example, personal protective equipment).

Your Wellbeing

We want to make sure you’re safe and well during your time at college. Our Wellbeing Team is available throughout the week to support you if you experience any difficulties. The team wear purple t-shirts and lanyards so you can easily spot them! We offer a drop-in service every lunchtime for students who want to access support, along with great opportunities across the week to meet with some great external support agencies.

We offer a free breakfast to all students to ensure everyone starts the day feeling energised and focused. We also have water bottle refill stations to help reduce single use plastic across our campuses and to ensure you stay hydrated.

Travelling to College

It’s important to travel green whenever possible and we encourage students to utilise safe travel routes and public transport to help reduce impact on the environment. Walking and cycle routes are available, along with public service buses; we can also support with advice for train travel. You can plan your journey to college using www.traveline.cymru or download their free app.

We have a number of college contract buses for students travelling to college from outside of the county borough. You can find out more about our bus routes by visiting

New Students

Financial Support

There are a number of options to help you if you’re struggling financially whilst studying at college. Subject to eligibility, you may be able to access support to help cover costs of course material fees, childcare costs or travel from our Financial Contingency Fund (FCF).

If you’re 16-18 years old, you might be eligible to apply for the Welsh Government Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA). You can check your eligibility and find out more by visiting www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/ema

If you’re 19 years old or older, you might be eligible to apply for the Welsh Government Learning Grant (WGLG). You can check your eligibility and find out more by visiting www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/fe/wglg-fe

Additional Learning Support

You might have had extra support at school. We have a great additional learning support team who can meet with you to talk about your support needs. We support students who have autism, need extra exam support or perhaps some extra support to help manage anxiety or their mental health.

Your Voice

We want you to have the very best experience at college and we encourage students to let us know when there are things we could be doing even better.

Our students have the opportunity to become a course rep or to become a StAR (Student Academic Representative). Our StARs meet termly with the college senior leadership team, to ensure that our work is informed and shaped by our student voice.

Students can also apply to become a college ambassador – a great way to enhance your CV by undertaking additional responsibilities which includes helping with staff interviews, helping with open evenings and other events.

We always have at least two students annually as part of our college governing body.

Welsh Language

We encourage students to develop and use their Welsh language skills, and we actively celebrate key Welsh cultural calendar events. Our students have some key rights related to their use of the Welsh language, including being able to submit work and receive written feedback in Welsh.

Work Ready

We want all students to have opportunities to participate in work-related learning and experiences. Our Cyfleoedd (which means opportunities) team work with all students to help secure work placements and wider employability and careers skills, including mock interviews, employer visits, masterclasses and volunteering opportunities.

Our aim is for all students to progress from college and secure competitive employment opportunities.

Find out more and meet our Cyfleoedd team here: www.cyfleoedd.co.uk

Enrichment

Our Student Engagement team offers excellent opportunities for students to participate in team and individual sports, physical activity and extracurricular activity. We organise course specific and college-wide trips and also celebrate key calendar events and Welsh culture.

If you have any questions or would like to find out more about life as a student at Bridgend College, connect with us via our social media channels, call us on 01656 302302 or visit our Student Services Team.

If you have any questions or would like to find out more about life as a student at Bridgend College, connect with us via our social media channels, call us on 01656 302302 or visit our Student Services Team.