I was listening to Radio Scotland while driving to work last week, and my spirits were really lifted listening to young people talking about returning to school, how they found not being able to see friends one of their most difficult challenges during lockdown, their relief that this has now been lifted, and their total delight that the SQA results process had, after an anxious few days, been clarified. There was such a sense of optimism and hope that I couldn’t help but smile. 

I share their delight and optimism and here at Ayrshire College, along with colleges across Scotland, we are working hard to process conditional offers and new applications so we can finalise offers of places for the academic year 2020-21. We will do our very best to maximise numbers on courses and accommodate as many applications as possible. 

Although the start to the academic year will be very different from previous years, we are confident that, through the commitment and hard work of our staff, we will deliver a positive and enjoyable learning experience through a blended learning model.

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To those people who didn’t get the results they were hoping for, I would say, “Don’t despair.” My own path into employment and further and higher education wasn’t straightforward in the least, and I certainly didn’t follow a traditional route. Colleges are here to help whatever the outcome of your exams, so please get in touch and we will do our very best to support you on your education/career journey.

We also need to remember the students who are not following SQA awards and had to pause their studies because they were unable to complete practical elements (many work-based) of their courses. Hundreds of students in Scotland still need to complete their programmes and at Ayrshire College we have prioritised bringing in this group first to enable them to complete, before starting our 2020-21 full-time cohort.

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We’re not just here for young people, though. A significant number of college learners are over the age of 25 and they come for all sorts of reasons - to retrain in a new career, because they didn’t have the opportunity when they were younger or because they’ve been made redundant and want to pick up new skills that will increase their chances of employment. 

We anticipate that there will be significant demand for flexible programmes to support businesses and individuals recover from the economic recession caused by the Covid-19 virus, and the college sector across Scotland is working with regional and national partners to identify and deliver courses to assist this recovery. 

Some examples from Ayrshire College include working closely with businesses engaged in the aerospace industry, with NHS Ayrshire and Arran and with early years providers to ensure our curriculum offering is aligned to the needs of the regional economy. We are building a Future Skills Hub at our Kilwinning Campus, which will support education and professional training in construction and provide a skills pipeline for some important capital projects that are being taken forward by North Ayrshire Council. A virtual reality hub will be hosted at our Ayr Campus as part of the Ayrshire Growth Deal, and we are working with wind farm developers to maximise opportunities for students on our wind turbine technician programmes. Along with partners in community learning and development, local authorities and the third sector, we are also supporting some of the most disadvantaged people in our region.

As we need to continue to deliver a significant amount of learning and other services remotely and online (in line with Scottish government and public health guidance), we are conducting a survey of students to identify those who do not have access to broadband connectivity or appropriate devices and will support these as best we can. To date, approximately 6,000 students have completed this survey and the information they provide will help to inform how we deliver our services.

There is no doubt that the 2020-21 academic session will be challenging. We need to be prepared for a range of scenarios ranging from full lockdown to possible localised/small outbreaks and everything in between. Health, safety and wellbeing of staff and students will continue to be my number one priority. Having said all that, I am really looking forward to welcoming students to the college and share the optimism shown by those young people on the radio. I can’t wait. 

Carol Turnbull is the principal and CEO of Ayrshire College