News: What is the difference between school and college?

Col­lege is all about that next step in your life and your jour­ney to becom­ing an adult. If you have had enough of school and are ready for some­thing dif­fer­ent then col­lege is the place for you. It will be an excit­ing, new chal­lenge where you will flour­ish and get your­self on that right path to ensure you’re future ready!

There are lots of lit­tle things the makes col­lege feel that lit­tle less for­mal than school. Some­thing as sim­ple as being on first name terms with your teach­ers. No more Miss or Sir which might feel a bit strange at first but you will soon get used to it and build up a real­ly good rela­tion­ship with your teach­ers. For many of our courses, there is no uniform either! It is not a school, so no Year 7’s run­ning around caus­ing hav­oc, just stu­dents your age and old­er. It is our belief that all of these lit­tle things help you feel more com­fort­able and there­fore allow you to learn bet­ter and reach your full potential.

Col­lege is a lot big­ger than school which means big­ger and bet­ter facil­i­ties. We have dif­fer­ent cam­pus­es spe­cial­is­ing in dif­fer­ent sub­jects. Whether that be at our spe­cial­ist con­struc­tion work­shops at Bas­ford, our ded­i­cat­ed Art & Design stu­dios at Stoney Street or our impres­sive Engi­neer­ing work­spaces at High­fields. Not to men­tion our City Hub cam­pus in the heart of Not­ting­ham which fea­tures a 200 seat the­atre, gourmet training restau­rant, state of the art class­rooms, amaz­ing social areas, dance studios, a replica airline cabin, our brand new Digital Media Centre and much more!

Did you know we are investing millions of pounds into our facilities over the coming year? A simulated hospital ward and observatory which are set to open this academic year. We have already invested in state-of-the-art science facilities and our brand new Digital Media Centre, are just a few examples!

These facil­i­ties are designed to give you hands-on, prac­ti­cal expe­ri­ence in what­ev­er course you may be study­ing to pre­pare you for a career in that industry. Take a look at this video below where student Tommy explains how the Construction facilities at our Basford Campus are helping his career goals.

At col­lege you are treat­ed more like an Adult and giv­en more free­dom. No bells for lessons which means that you have more respon­si­bil­i­ty and can take con­trol of your own time man­agement. You can also come and go as you please between lessons. We do encourage you to make use of your campus learning centre’s and study spaces in between lessons, but with many of our campuses being based in central locations, many in Nottingham City Centre, there’s lots of options to explore during your lunch breaks and free time.

For­get all those sub­jects you didn’t like or enjoy at school. For­get all those teach­ers who didn’t inspire you or moti­vate you. This is the first time you can just focus on the sub­ject and course area that inter­ests you, that moti­vates you, that excites you — whether that is Games Design or Sport or Hair & Beau­ty or any of the oth­er many of options avail­able. You come to col­lege because you enjoy it and want to progress in your cho­sen course/​career – no one is forc­ing you to be here like school. 

With the widest range of courses and study options for school leavers in the region, the choice is yours! You can choose to study whatever you are interested in. Whether that’s an academic route such as A Levels, one of our huge variety of vocational, hands on courses, or an apprenticeship where you earn a salary whilst learning!

If you’re joining us as a school leaver and meet the entry requirements for Maths and English you won’t have to continue studying them (unless you choose to). If you didn’t pass (don’t panic it’s not the end of the world) we will support you to continue studying them until you pass. You can usually do this alongside your chosen course/​s.

It can be daunting at first but our students all say that one of the best things about coming to college is meeting new people! Because you have all chosen to be here and are studying a subject that interests you, you’ll be with likeminded people!

It is impor­tant to remem­ber that every­one is in the same boat and have all come from dif­fer­ent schools across the city, the coun­ty and even fur­ther away. Being new is something you all have in common.

Hear from our staff and students at our High Pavement Sixth Form!

It can be easy to follow the crowd and choose something because your friends have, however college is a fantastic opportunity to step out of your comfort zone! Choosing a course that interests you, that you will enjoy, will benefit you in the future. When you join us, we do everything we can to ensure you receive a warm welcome and settle into your course and new surroundings quickly.

We have lots of support available too! Our Pastoral Tutors and Wellbeing Team are on hand to help and each student has an allocated amount of tutorial time each week, covering all things from study tips and team challenges to social action projects and fundraising. 

When you join us you will quickly discover all the amazing extra-curricular activities there are to get involved with. 

• Sports Teams
• Yearly Welcome Fairs
• Societies
• Student Union
• Trips — both in the UK and abroad!
• Course Rep opportunities 
• and much more.…

Did you know that we received funding from The Turing Scheme, the UK governments study abroad programme to run fully funded study abroad trips for our students over the next 3 years? Students have recently returned from Nepal, Thailand, The Netherlands and Italy. With another 5 trips already confirmed for this academic year! 

You can see more over on our TikTok channel.

It’s not too late to secure your place with us for September — we have limited places still remaining and we’re enrolling now!