Support for Students

In partnership with AccessAble, you can find accessibility information about the Student Support hub at BCoT here.

Our dedicated careers team can give you impartial careers advice. They will help you look for work, help with your university application, give CV advice, develop interview skills and help find industry placements.

*For current BCoT students* - careers advice and support is available via email and telephone. If you need any help, please contact anna.thorpe@bcot.ac.uk

Career Coach

What is Career Coach?

Provided by Hampshire Careers Partnership, Career Coach is a free tool to help students and alumni find out more about careers in their chosen industry, as well as a useful CV builder.

• Careers assessments help you find the right path for you.
• Useful CV builder to help you perfect your CV for job applications.
• Detailed insights and information into a wide range of careers.

Visit Career Coach today to get the latest industry insights and careers advice to help you progress in your career.

Our college nurse is on-site every day during term time to help when you are feeling unwell.
If you have a long term health condition, the nurse will work with you and your family to ensure we have a care plan in place in order to support you in your studies. The nurse is supported by a team of first aiders who are on-call whenever the college is open.

BCoT is proud to offer a free professional and confidential counselling service all week during term time.
The college employs a team of skilled professionals who can help students to get back on track in times when they need support to deal with difficult times in their life. Our counsellors can help to deal with anxiety and depression, or cope with relationship problems, loneliness or trouble at home or whatever issue is getting in your way. Our counsellors are non-judgemental, respectful of all views and open to all our students.

We will put in place access arrangements for you in exams if you have been assessed as needing these. These may include a reader, scribe, extra time, use of word processor, small room or rest breaks.

If a you had access arrangements at school, these will not automatically be carried over at BCoT; previous arrangements are invalidated by a move to a new centre. Therefore, we have to resubmit all applications following an interview and reassessment. To arrange this you need to book an appointment with the specialist assessor in the Maths & English/Support Hub. Referrals for new assessments can also be made by students, parents or tutors.

The exam boards set deadlines for submission of access arrangements and we have no control over these so assessments need to be completed within the first term at college.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Student Support on 01256 306494.

We offer a number of financial schemes to help our students. Please visit our Fees and Funding section for further information about available loans and bursaries.

Support for our students

We’ve put together a range of resources for students to help with their wellbeing, online safety and working remotely. Please click on the links below for more information.

• Information on wellbeing and Support – Get information on how we can support you during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Being safe online – These slides will give you tips and information on how to be safe online.
• Student Guide to remote working – Find out everything you need to know about working remotely.
• Virtual Classroom rules – Classroom rules still apply, read more about rules for our virtual classrooms

Children in care are referred to as ‘looked after children’.

A child is ‘looked after’ if they are in the care of the local authority for more than 24 hours.

A child will stop being ‘looked after’ when they are either adopted, returned home or turn 18 and the local authority will continue to support children leaving care at 18 until they reach 21.

The term ‘care leaver’ refers to a young person under the age of 25 who is, or has been, in public care for a minimum of three months, since the age of 14, and was in care on their 16th birthday.

Looked after and care leaver students will be supported by the Director of Student Experience, Welfare Team and RAP Tutors who can be accessed prior to joining the College, throughout the study programme and to support progression.

They will work with all relevant staff to ensure they are fully supported and can access the following:
• Additional Learning Support
• Careers and Progression Advice
• Counselling
• Financial Support
• Transport Support and Advice
• Liaison with appropriate agencies
• Advocacy for a range of situations including entry and on course requirements.

We want all of our students to be successful and happy while they’re studying with us. That's why we work closely with parents and guardians to help make the step from school to college a success for all our students. The Parent Portal allows parents/guardians of our students to view reports, timetables, attendance, progress, results, qualifications and comments from our teaching staff.

We have a dedicated team of staff on hand to make sure you stay on track with your studies during your time at BCoT. Each vocational department has a Retention and Progression (RAP) Tutor who are here to help you focus on your course and support you during your time at college. You will have a weekly tutorial with them, they will monitor your attendance with you, offer pastoral support and advice when needed and assist you with progressing to your next step – whether that is university, an Apprenticeship, or employment.

Our Safeguarding policy and procedure applies to all of our students and in particular students aged 18 years or under and vulnerable adults.

The key objectives of the policy and guidance are to:
• Promote a safe environment for all our students to learn and achieve
• Actively promote the welfare of students
• Identify any students who may be experiencing abuse or harm in college, at home or in relationships and take appropriate action to ensure their safety (Child and Adult Protection).

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of students and expect all staff, volunteers and students to share this commitment. For more information about this please download our safeguarding policy procedure.

We have a dedicated team that are able to support students with a variety of additional needs and are committed to providing the highest standards of support to learners who have a disability or learning difficulty.

It is important that you give us as much information as you can on your application form so we know what additional needs you may require. We can then make sure you get the right support to help you succeed at BCoT.

You may have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). These documents tell us about the support you need so it is important we see them and discuss them with you.

If you do not have a plan but think you need one, we can request one from the local authority based on our assessment of your support needs. If you do not have a plan, there is still support available to you.

Our team is on hand if you have disabilities, learning difficulties or health problems and can support you with your studies.

We provide support for additional learning needs including:

• Physical Disabilities
• Visual Impairment
• Deaf or hard of hearing
• ADHD
• Dyslexia
• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Mental health issues.

We would look to support your additional learning needs as much as we can, and our support will include:

• Making reasonable adjustments within teaching and learning
• In class support from Student Support Assistants
• Overlearning and 1:1 support outside of class with Specialist Support Tutors
• Additional Maths and English coaching
• Access to assistive technology
• Special arrangements to help with exams
• Assistance with personal care
• Accessibility and personal assistance

To discuss your support needs please contact our Transition Manager, Helen Key on 01256 306289 or email helen.key@bcot.ac.uk

We offer support to students with more complex needs, to see these courses please follow this link to our Specialist Provision page

We offer discounted travel packages and bursaries to our full time students, which can be paid monthly, termly or annually. Students who live outside of Basingstoke and travel to and from College by train can receive a discount on their train tickets; whereas if you travel by bus from Zone 2 areas outside Basingstoke, our partnership with Stagecoach means you could qualify for as much as 25% off bus travel.

We offer support to any student who is a young carer, including one-to-one guidance and advice. We also find support groups for students who are young carers, organise trips and enrichment activities, and can help you learn more about the Young Carers Allowance.