The change from secondary school to college can be a confusing time for both student and parent so we want to try and answer as many of your questions as we can by creating a simple and informative guide!
Let’s start with what we have to offer for your child…
At Hadlow College we have various vocational pathways which include Further Education, Higher Education and Apprenticeships. You may ask what those areas mean, well let us explain…
Vocational education is part of all of the courses we offer at the College, this type of education prepares people to be ready for employment and skilled within their craft. The majority of courses we offer at the College are vocational based.
Further Education (FE) is any study after secondary education that’s not part of higher education. FE also includes 3 types of technical and applied qualifications for 16 to 19-year-olds:
- level 3 tech levels to specialise in a specific technical job
- level 2 technical certificates help get employment or progress to another tech level
- applied general qualifications to continue general education at advanced level through applied learning
Higher Education (HE) is the name for qualifications and courses you can take after 18. It includes diplomas, foundation years, bachelor degrees and more.
Apprenticeships is comprised of 80% employment that gives you a learning platform to train and develop your skills, knowledge and behaviours in your chosen profession and 20% of your contracted working hours will be spent in training and development, either with us at college, or even in your workplace. The remainder of your time will be spent applying and developing your skills and knowledge deeper in your workplace.
Therefore, vocational courses, apprenticeships, T levels and A Levels all come under the category of Further Education and when you choose one of those options it will be a certain level for example, you can study any Level when you leave school depending on your GCSE results.
They start from Entry Level up to Level 3 for 16-year-olds and a Level 3 vocational course is equivalent to A Levels and a T Level is equivalent to 3 A Levels. Majority of the time you can study any Level of Apprenticeships but these are no different so a Level 2 Apprenticeship would match the level of GCSEs. You can find out more about each Level here.
We hope the above has helped answer any questions you were unsure about, if you have any other enquires you can ring us on 01732 850551 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
You can view and apply for all of our courses on our website website.
*Information within this article has been sourced from the GOV.UK website*