Former college student Joe credits the fantastic quality of teaching and support he received whilst studying on an Access course at Exeter College for helping him on his path to success in education. Joe describes his tutors as having “amazing and extensive knowledge of their subject areas and couldn’t do enough to help and guide us all.”

Since studying on the Access to Higher Education Diploma in Science at Exeter College, Joe has gone on to study for his BSc in Chemistry at Plymouth University.

Joe says that Access to Higher Education courses “develop a want to better yourself through education. It gives you the opportunity to become capable of independent learning and thrive in areas of academia you enjoy and struggle with.”

Joe’s Science Diploma is just one of six Access diplomas offered by the college – also available are Humanities, Social Care, Art and Design, Healthcare and Education. Access to Higher Education is the perfect route to university level study for adult students looking to get back into education and who may lack the formal entry requirements. It is also the ideal way to kick start a change in career or to develop your study skills.

To find out how Access courses at Exeter College could change your life for the better too pick up a copy of our latest Centre for University Level Studies Prospectus or visit www.exe-coll.ac.uk/Access

Exeter College has announced plans to invest £70 million over the next 20 years in creating an ‘Exceptional’ college.

Under the plans, the college has set out a clear vision for its continued upward trajectory from an Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ college to be an ‘Exceptional college’. The college launched both a new strategic plan and a 20 year master plan at an event at Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (RAMM) on Thursday March 9.

The strategic plan sets out a journey to move from Outstanding to Exceptional over a five year time period, addressing the opportunities that A level, technical education and Apprenticeship reform offer, as well as continuing to grow University Level and adult training and learning for the local community. Exeter College is now nationally, the 8th largest provider for 16 to 18 education, providing a wide curriculum offer for Exeter, Devon and the wider region.

The event also marked the launch of a 20 year property master plan, providing more than 30% increased teaching capacity addressing future skills needs such as digital and data for young people.

The £70m vision over 20 years has been developed in partnership with Keystone Projects, strategic property and project management advisers to the education sector, with AWW architects and GVA Grimley planning specialists. Initial, illustrative artist impressions have been drawn up to invest in the college estate, subject to extensive further consultation with the local community.

John Laramy, Exeter College Principal and Chief Executive, said: “The new Strategic Plan sets out to meet the academic, education, and skills needs for the city and region. An exceptional student experience remains the focus of all we do.

“I am also proud that we are the only English college in The Sunday Times Top 100 Not-for-Profit Organisations to work for in 2017. This is a significant achievement, recognising how key our staff are in delivering our vision.”
Philip Bostock OBE, Chair of the Board, said: “We are delighted to have produced this initial vision for our long term future, taking on board ideas from our staff, students and governing body.

“The master plan cements our commitment to remaining a city centre college and we look forward to further developing our ideas with the city council, the local community and funding partners over the coming months.”

Commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Frank family going into hiding, Exeter College BTEC Performing Arts students will be performing Dreams of Anne Frank by Bernard Cops, at the Barnfield Theatre, Exeter in May.

75 years ago in 1942, Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl, was forced into hiding with seven others in a secret annex in Amsterdam. Dreams of Anne Frank, a beautifully re-imagined play by Bernard Cops, vividly brings her story to life in a poignant, beautiful and highly charged drama. Through movement, live music and song the play re-imagines and explores Anne Frank's hidden world; a world in which she lived, fell in love, and dreamt of freedom.

Winner of the Time Out award for best children's production during its London premiere, this imaginative play with music demystifies and humanizes Anne Frank's story of tremendous bravery.

Exeter College BTEC Performing Arts students look to celebrate Anne Frank’s vitality, while at the same time stimulating us to not only question the past, but to confront the very same issues of discrimination and prejudice that surround us today. Anne’s diary, and this play about her life, commends the spirit of creativity that thrives despite being confined and hidden from society. Dreams of Anne Frank is the cornerstone of a season of work at the Barnfield Theatre, by Exeter College’s Drama and Performing Arts Department, in May 2017.

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” Anne Frank

We spoke to our performing arts students to hear what they’ve learnt from this project:

“In the last 75 years prejudice and discrimination have not been eradicated, it’s been normalised. One of the most painful forms of prejudice I’ve encountered is against young people. When walking along a street reading the BBC politics page on my phone I was told by an old lady to stop facebooking and learn something. Large marches and political events are needed. It’s just a case of having the courage of speaking your mind and letting people know your opinion. If everyone speaks up instead of sitting back and turning a blind eye we can positively challenge acts of discrimination and prejudice.” Chesney Fawkes-Porter

“From exploring the play and it’s themes I’ve learnt that people can be controlled and conform to fit in. Therefore people’s beliefs and values may not be their own as so much is fed to us by the media.” Seumas Mackinnon

“I feel that in today’s society too many people turn a blind eye when they see something that isn’t right.” Molly Mae Courtney

Exeter College BTEC Performing Arts students present Dreams of Anne Frank
By Bernard Kops and Music by David Burman
Performances taking place at the Barnfield Theatre on:
• Wednesday 3rd May 10am
• Thursday 4th May 7.30pm
• Friday 5th May 7.30pm
• Saturday 6th May 2.30pm & 7.30pm
• Sunday 7th May 2.30pm
For tickets please call the Box Office: 01392 271808 or visit www.barnfieldtheatre.org.uk
Adults £9 / Concessions £7 / Family of four £25

Thirty Exeter College students have successful completed their British Sign Language qualification this academic year.

All of the students passed their final assessment and completed the course, which is run by SignUp BSL.

SignUp BSL is a social purpose business. Their vision is of a society where Deafness is not a barrier to independence, achievement or fulfilment. SignUp BSL are dedicated to advancing that vision by increasing the awareness and use of British Sign Language in the community, and by being a positive employer of Deaf people.

Exeter College offers students the opportunity to take part in a range of enrichment activities. Enrichment is an organised set of exciting activities that give students the opportunity to get a new skill, experience new hobbies, achieve a qualification, and make new friends.

There are more than 35 different types of enrichment opportunities available, ranging from volunteering with our Exeter College Volunteers programme, Duke of Edinburgh Awards, Ten Tors, sporting activities, to our Student Choir, music ensembles, Debating Society, or learning British Sign Language.

Six Exeter College students have been selected to study at the University of Oxford for one week over the summer holidays. The selection process involved submitting a personal statement detailing the students’ interest in their chosen course and motivation to attend UNIQ. A total number of 3960 applications were made to UNIQ from schools and colleges all around the UK in 2017 of which 875 were selected to attend.

The summer school is run by the University of Oxford and gives first year A level students a realistic view of Oxford student life. UNIQ participants live in Oxford colleges for one week while attending lectures and seminars in their chosen subject. Participants also take part in a variety of social activities in the evenings with like minded Oxford hopefuls from other colleges across the UK.

The Six students that will be attending have chosen Biochemistry, Human Sciences, Politics Philosophy Economics, Engineering, and Middle Eastern Studies to focus on during their visit to the Russell Group university. They have chosen to undertake the experience to further their knowledge in their chosen subject areas as well as improve their chances of being accepted into Oxford university through workshops that they will attend during the event.

Five of the six students are members of the college’s Reach Academy. The Reach Academy is an Exeter College initiative to help academically gifted students successfully aim high in their university and career ambitions.

Following on from being nominated for four TES awards, we are delighted to announce that Exeter College music teacher, James Tarling was highly commended in the category of Teacher of the Year.

Only a very small number of highly commended awards were given out at the national awards in London. The most outstanding colleges, training providers and individuals in the Further Education sector were recognised at the recent TES FE Awards. Apprenticeships and skills minister Robert Halfron joined more than 700 guests for the ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London’s Park Lane.

Speaking about receiving the accolade, James reflected that he thought it was an acknowledgement of the college’s focus on student and staff wellbeing.

James said: “It felt great to be nominated and to be highly commended. For me, it is a real acknowledgment of the work we have been doing over the last three or four years on student and staff wellbeing. We’ve been focusing on mindfulness and student mental health across the college. This is becoming increasingly important to learning and learners in the 21st century.

“I have been a learning leader for the past few years and I’m really proud of my course, which is Music Technology. It is a course people are really keen to do. We have great resources, absolutely fantastic outcomes and in a sense, the award was an acknowledgment of all those things.

“At Exeter College there is a positive culture that people want to do well, and want to be great teachers.”

Claire Fox, the Director of the Institute of Ideas, visited Exeter College recently to speak to a packed audience of around a hundred students and other guests.

This high profile speaker spoke about the importance of free speech in a lecture held in the college’s new lecture theatre.

The Institute of Ideas runs the Debating Matters Competition, a national debating competition held for sixth form students. The contest is known for being one of the toughest debating competitions in the country. Last year, a team of Exeter College students impressed at the coveted national finals in London.

Speaking during her visit, Claire Fox, who is the Director of the Institute of Ideas, said: “The college is to be congratulated for creating an atmosphere of intellectual enquiry and robust exchange of views, proving that debating really matters.”

Our students beat off tough competition to win their place at the national finals of Debating Matters in 2016 after being crowned winners of the West and South Wales region.

English Literature Coordinator Martin Owen, who organised the visit and talk by Claire Fox at the college, said: “We are delighted to have Claire visit the college and talk to our students on this very serious issue.

“It is really important to engage students with challenging ideas – and events like this help to do so. Many thanks to Claire and the Institute of Ideas for supporting us with this and also helping to establish an Exeter Salon, hosted at the college in the near future.”

Last week the South West Apprenticeship Ambassador Network and Exeter College hosted the Apprenticeship Expo 2017 for a successful third year. The Apprenticeship Expo is the largest event of its kind in the South West during National Apprenticeship Week. The college’s Sports Hall was transformed into a 1,000 square metre exhibition space resulting in a record number of attendees.

National Apprenticeship Week, which is co-ordinated by the National Apprenticeship Service, is designed to celebrate Apprenticeships and the positive impact they have on individuals, businesses and the economy.

The Apprenticeship Expo is the only event of its kind in the South West, run by an Apprentice, dedicated to showcasing businesses to the future workforce. Companies who employ Apprentices were invited to be part of the biggest and the best Apprenticeship event in the South West. The Expo enabled them access to nearly 2,000 of the next generation of Apprentices from across Devon and show them why their business is the one to work for.

Sixty businesses exhibited at the event including Exeter University, South West Water, South West Ambulance Service, Midas, Gregory Distribution Ltd, Redrow Homes and representatives from the Armed Forces. These and many others were on hand to offer face to face guidance on the employment opportunities within their companies. Some employers took the opportunity to launch new Apprenticeship Programmes at the event. These included a new Aeronautical Engineering Apprenticeship Programme at Flybe as well as multiple new and exciting roles at Arconic Power and Propulsion.

From the exhibiting companies an outstanding 1,736 new Apprenticeship opportunities were pledged for the next year, proving the importance of events such as these. Not only for the businesses recruiting but also the young people in attendance and in the South West. This figure, from a small percentage of the businesses in Devon portrays the volume of potential opportunities to earn and learn locally within the next year.

The event is supported annually by the South West Apprenticeship Ambassador Network and Health Education England. Richard Daulton of the National Apprenticeship Service, said,

“We are delighted to be supporting this event after the huge success of last year’s Expo. The Apprenticeship Expo is a fantastic opportunity for young people and parents to engage with some of our most successful and supportive employers from the region. As more and more businesses identify the unique benefits that Apprenticeships bring to their organisation it’s essential they recruit the right candidate to fill these roles.”

Mike Blakeley, Director of Apprenticeships and Employer Engagement said

“The ongoing support and commitment of Apprenticeship awareness by the businesses in Devon and Cornwall is at an all-time high. Without doubt the awareness of the reforms of Apprenticeships has created a mind set for companies to look into the value and benefits that Apprenticeships will bring. Having nearly 2,000 young people attend an event such as this really shows the growing interest of young people and parents alike in employment with high quality training. It’s really becoming a golden era for Apprenticeships.”

The Apprenticeship Expo is open to anyone interested in finding out more about Apprenticeships. For more information please visit us here or call 01392 400800.

Drummer and Exeter College Music Academy student Kai Craig came a very close second in the Young Drummer of the Year national competition. The competition was put together to give the country’s young drumming talent a national and international platform, which the organisers hope will be the first steps in their musical career. Kai, from Exeter, is taking three BTEC subjects, including Music Technology, along with AS Level Music. This is complimented by an enrichment programme of Jazz Project and Jambassadors.

Five hundred people initially entered the competition which was then whittled down to only 10. On competition day entrants had to perform a 2 minute set. They were given a song in advance to practice and were then tasked with performing another song on the day, along with an interview with the judges.

Kai said: “I was really pleased with the result and got amazing feedback from the judges. It’s a really good networking experience and great to meet other people who are passionate about the same thing. I would definitely do this kind of competition again in the future.”

Kai’s plans for the future include completing a 4 year degree at the Royal Academy of Music in London before moving on to a post-graduate degree at the Juilliard School in New York.

With 50,000 different university level courses at 395 institutions it can be tricky to know where to start your search, but there are some great websites and tools I have found that you can use to help you focus your search.

Personally I try to avoid 'Googling' courses and university websites to start with as this information won’t always be impartial or comprehensive. To help you on your journey I have compiled a list of frequently asked questions I get from parents and students and some useful websites and resources I recommend.

What degree subjects can I do with my A levels/level 3 course?

There are lots of different tools and website that can help you with this. Personally I recommend Which?, BestCourse4Me and Prospects – all of which give great information.

What careers or jobs would suit me?

Prospects have created this useful Career Planner that can give you an idea on what might suit you or your son/daughter. Give it a go today.

How can I find out more about the subjects I am thinking about studying?

UCAS has compiled a Subject Guide. I find it an invaluable resource, and I'm sure you will too.

Which Universities offer the subject I want to study and what are the entry requirements?

UCAS lists most of the subhects and universities in the UK. You can visit their website here and click on Course Search to look at a full list.

What are the best rated Universities for particular subjects?

University rankings come in many shapes and sizes. They can be subjective and depend largely on who is compiling the list. Personaly I like using one of the following, and often use all three and cross reference them

• The Complete University Guide
• The Guardian
• The Times (this is a paid for service, but you can see it here for free)

How can I compare the courses at the different Universities to get a shortlist?
How satisfied are students on this course?
What jobs did students go into and what was the average starting salary?
What is average cost of accommodation?

The Unistats website has information on many of the most common questions about going to university. Including the questions above.

How do I organise an Open/Taster Day at the University?

Open Days has information on many of the university open days, but you can also look directly on the university's own website.

What jobs can I do with a degree in…?

Prospects have built this great tool to see what kind of jobs your degree can lead to.

Are all degrees equal? How do I know if my degree subject will lead to a graduate job?

Of course there is no way to guarantee your degree will lead to a job. But you can find information on which subjects and degrees have previosuly led to employment. I like this resource produced by HECSU.

I hope you've found my tips useful. If you would like any further information please email us at progressionteam@exe-coll.ac.uk.

Louise is Employability and Progression Team Leader at Exeter College.