Are you ready to achieve your goals at Cardiff and Vale College?
RECEIVED your GCSE results and contemplating your next step?
Each year thousands of young people from across the area progress from school to Cardiff and Vale College to achieve their goal.
Check out the college’s new website at www.cavc.ac.uk to easily explore the wide range of courses available and apply online for a course starting this September.
As one of the largest colleges in the UK, Cardiff and Vale College (CAVC) offers a huge range of opportunities for young people completing their GCSEs.
With more than 30 different A-levels and a huge range of careerfocused courses and apprenticeships, CAVC offers the widest choice of pathways across Cardiff and the Vale, running at different levels to allow individuals to achieve their goals, whether university or a dream career.
Students progressing to CAVC straight after their GCSEs can choose from around 30 A-level courses including biology, English language and English literature, history, law, mathematics, media studies, photography, psychology and business.
As the largest college in Wales and one of the largest in the UK it also has a huge range of career-focused courses, from aircraft engineering to art and design; business to beauty therapy; construction to catering and much, much more.
Many career-focused courses provide you with enough UCAS points to go to university, while others help you to achieve the career of your choice.
Student success rates at CAVC are some of the best in the country. Last year, nearly 90% of learners progressed to further study, university or employment within three months of leaving the college and more than 1,000 have progressed on to university-level study within the last few years.
Students looking to progress straight into employment after college are also reaping the benefits from their time at CAVC.
Through its focus on employability the College provides all students with opportunities to develop their skills through participation in work placements, national skills competitions, entrepreneurial challenges, masterclasses with business and industry, workshops and more. CAVC supports students to stand out from the crowd and progress.
One such student is Bethan Hearne, one of the college’s highest A-level achievers last year. Bethan attained A* grades in psychology and biology, as well as As in maths and Welsh Baccalaureate. She progressed on to study psychology at Oxford University.
“I was quite a shy person who would stick to the back of the class at school, so it was nice to put myself out there and go through the application process – coming to the college was definitely beneficial for me,” Bethan said. “College helps you become so much more independent and it helped me to believe in myself, so if that’s what people need they should definitely come to the college.”
In the last year, CAVC has seen many of its students embark upon life-changing experiences, including competing in national industry skills competitions to be the best new talent in the career area and showcase their talent to UK employers.
CAVC was the most represented Welsh college at the WorldSkills UK finals and two CAVC students have been selected to represent the UK in the Worldskills world finals in Russia – widely known as the Skills Olympics.
Hospitality and catering student Jasmin Jones jetted off to India to represent Wales at the prestigious International Young Chef Olympiad competition.
Jasmin was sponsored by the Cardiff Hoteliers’ Association and had a transformative experience cooking among the most promising young chefs in the world.
With all the above on offer, demand for full-time courses is at an all-time high with more people than ever before applying to study at CAVC. But, as principal Kay Martin explains, it’s not too late to get a place:
“The appetite for full-time learners to study at CAVC is high, with our A-level courses in particular receiving an unprecedented number of applications.
“With our state-of-the-art campuses and facilities and the depth and breadth of courses available across all our sites it’s an exciting time to be part of Cardiff and Vale College.
“Above all we are committed to supporting our learners and offering an experience – not just a qualification – that helps them to become skilled, employable and stand out from the crowd.
“Many students are now holding offers on courses that start this September. However, there are still places available for some courses. Our new website makes it even easier for people to apply online and find the right course for them.”
As part of its commitment to providing students and the community with inspirational, state-of-the-art learning environments the College has developed new, and invested in, sites across the region in recent years.
This includes the landmark £45m City Centre Campus on Dumballs Road, which is just five minutes’ walk from Cardiff Central station with impressive facilities including specialist labs, workshops and studios; dedicated centres for construction and automotive training; the renowned restaurant The Classroom and vast Urbasba salon and spa, providing top class homes for these industries; and a raft of spaces for students to learn and relax.
In the last 18 months the college has also offered courses for 16-19 years olds in two new campuses in the east and west of Cardiff.
This includes Eastern Community Campus, a shared campus with Eastern High, and Cardiff West Community High School. At both of these CAVC offers an exciting range of courses for young people, many of whom live close by.
Cardiff International Sports Campus in Leckwith is CAVC’s fantastic dedicated space for those wishing to train for a future career in sport. It underpins an already well-established sports provision at the college including several successful sports academies such as rugby, netball and football.
Each year thousands of young people progress from school to Cardiff and Vale College to achieve their goal. ■ Apply now to start college this September. Visit www.cavc.ac.uk.