Teaching:

You are taught through a combinations of lectures, group work and placement supervision. For a full-time course at Level 4 you typically have around 9 hours contact time per week, at level 5 around 5 hours, and at level 6, around 4. Full-time students will normally have at least one block week per year, when you will be in class for 3 full days.

On top of this commitment students on ministerial or children and family pathways will have additional classes, group work and placement requirements. For more details of the formational pathways through our awards see this link.

Independent Learning: When you are not attending lectures, seminars or other timetabled sessions you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. Typically this will involve reading journal articles and books, and preparing assignments. Your independent learning is supported by Moodle, our virtual learning environment and our College library.
Overall workload: Your overall workload consists of classroom time, context engagement and independent learning. The balance between these will vary according to the type of module you take but the following information gives an indication of how much time you will need to allocate at each level of the full-time course. For part-time courses you will need to calculate the hours needed according to the number of credits you plan to take in the year.
Level 4 (120 credits): Contact hours/Placement engagement = 180-190 hours
Independent Study = 1010-20 hours
Total 1200 hours (average of 37.5 hours per week over 32 weeks)
Level 5 and 6 (120 credits): Contact hours/Placement engagement = 120-130 hours
Independent Study = 1070-80 hours
Total 1200 hours (average of 37.5 hours per week over 32 weeks)

Academic Support

To enable all students to reach their potential, we provide learning support throughout the time in College. All students on undergraduate and taught postgraduate programmes are allocated a personal tutor who is available to give support and advice if needed. Students meet regularly with their tutors individually or in groups. Students use the online Virtual Learning Environment and receive induction sessions in its use.

Many of our students have been out of education for a number of years, or have not studied at degree level before. All undergraduate students can attend study skills sessions at the start of their time at College, and further one to one support is also available.

Students who have been assessed as having specific learning or other needs may access further support if this is needed. All our university-validated programmes are designated for Disability Support Allowance. Please ask us for further details.

You can read our Additional Needs Policy here.

Support is provided in the following areas:

  • Study skills (including reading and note-taking)
  • Academic writing (including how to reference)
  • Research skills (in conjunction with the library)
  • Critical thinking (including structuring an argument)

Targeted support is available for students with additional needs resulting from disability or learning difficulties.