Support Zone – Student Fest 2021
Welcome to the Student Fest 2021 Support Zone!, Here we will provide you with all the top tips you need on how you can access support, whether that be at college and sixth form or university. This includes academic support, counselling and mental health, disability and dyslexia support, and everything in between. There is also a parent section for any who are concerned about their child going to university and wanting to know how they will be supported throughout their studies. We’ve linked documents below for you to download and take away with you for the future.
If you’d like to return to the Student Fest 2021 Map click the sign post below:
How do I ask for support?
CLICK THE DOWNLOAD BUTTON TO VIEW THE FULL DOCUMENT
We have information you can download to take with you! Just hit download! These PDFs have loads of amazing info and go into more depth to give you great impartial guidance.
What support is on offer?
So, now that we’ve spoken about who to talk to for support, it’s time to look at what support can actually be offered to you. In addition you can get support if you feel like you’re not quite understanding the content that’s being taught to you, or if you feel like you’re struggling with another aspect of your studies. This is just a small list of the support that can, and almost always will, be available throughout your educational journey. If you want to know what’s available then be sure to ask your institution on open days!
1. Employability and Careers Advice
One of the best pieces of advice that can be offered to you focuses on your employability and the sort of careers that you many want to pursue in the future. They will also offer you guidance on the sorts of jobs you can get whilst you’re studying, making sure that you aren’t going to be over worked and that it is flexible around your studies.
2. Counselling and Mental Health
Another amazing type of support that will be available to you as a student is counselling and mental health. There will be examples of this, and all the other support, in other areas of the tent! No matter how small the issue, every team at every institution will take the time to help you and will make sure that you get the best possible help to enable you to overcome whatever challenge it is you’re facing.
Power of Positivity
We thought we would add a splash of wellbeing into this tent. If you want to see more don’t forget to head over to the Wellbeing Tent!
3. Accommodation Queries and Guidance
Whilst at university you will have the opportunity to live in a wide range of accommodation, some of which will be onsite. Whilst you’re living onsite, or in any other university managed accommodation, you will have 27/7 accommodation and security support, as well as guidance to help you decide what options to pursue once you decide to move into a separate house outside of university grounds. They will also offer you support once you live in private accommodation if you find yourself having issues.
4. Disability and Dyslexia
There will always be teams available to talk about any issues that you may be facing as a disabled student. It’s worth noting that universities have an obligation to provide the best possible support to disabled students. If you are someone who feels like they may be dyslexic, then universities will offer students the chance to have free screenings in order to find out if you are dyslexic or not. If you are, then the university will provide you with additional support so that you can complete your studies, just as any other student would.
5. Academic Support and Essay Tutorials
One of the biggest factors at college and at university is the exams/coursework that you will have to do in order to complete your course. And as much as it is a time for independent study, it doesn’t mean that you will completely on your own. If you feel like you will struggle with the pressure of exams then you can seek advice on how to deal with that.
Attention Parents
We know it can be tricky as a parent when your child is thinking about taking that step to university, especially if it’s something you have never been through! We have put together some useful videos so that you can support your child with the application process and with university itself!
Q&A with Dad
Why Uni?
Top Tips from parents to parents
Mum’s UCAS Tips
Mum’s Open Day Tips
Student Finance
Higher Education in a College
Higher Education in a Rural Area
Useful Links
College
Most colleges will offer additional support for their learners. This can be anything from Careers support to mental health and well being. A number of colleges are also offering more enrichment activities for a tailored student experience.
Below are some examples of what colleges are doing;
https://www.howcollege.ac.uk/student-life/student-support/college-welfare-service/
https://www.howcollege.ac.uk/student-life/student-support/
https://www.howcollege.ac.uk/student-life/student-experience/
https://halesowen.ac.uk/learners
If you would like to chat to Luke, our Careers Advisor from Heart of Worcestershire College, then follow this link;
https://aimhigherwm.ac.uk/speak-to-aimhigher/?user_id=6513
Uni
Here are some examples of the support links for a number of universities;
https://www.worcester.ac.uk/life/help-and-support/
https://www2.aston.ac.uk/current-students/hub
https://www.ucb.ac.uk/student-support/
https://www.bcu.ac.uk/student-info/welcome-week/help-and-advice/student-support
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/study/support/index.aspx
https://www.newman.ac.uk/article-categories/student-support/
We hope you enjoyed this zone! If you would like us to cover anything else, don’t forget to leave your suggestions below! We’d love to hear your top tips too, you can share them with each other in the comments.
Since the success of Student Fest in 2020 we have launched another online event all about careers. The ‘Job Board’ zone was extremely helpful to lots of people so we wanted to create more content on this topic! We have essentially turned this zone into it’s very own event! If you’d like to visit ‘Careers Fayre’, another interactive event to explore at your own pace, click the link below! It’s a great place to go when thinking about your steps to your dream career.
If you have any questions don’t forget to get in touch with us over on Social Media.