Foundation

Welcome to Foundation learning at Stanmore College. Foundation learning is a starting point for those who need a little more support with learning or have mild to moderate learning difficulties.

Tailored support

Foundation learning at Stanmore is staffed by a supportive, caring, experienced and innovative team of specialist staff whose priority is to help people to settle in, feel comfortable and enjoy learning and persona development in a safe setting. Our inclusive team will also support you with any individual learning needs that you may have.  

Classes are small and supported by specialist learning support practitioners who provide support in lessons and outside of lesson time. Where necessary they are also able to take care of any personal needs.

In addition to learning support staff and study coaches, we also have welfare staff, a counsellor, qualified careers’ staff, personal tutors and a student finance adviser. There are allocated areas of the College where you can go for support or just to sit and study or to enjoy time in a relaxing and supportive environment.

We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn, progress and enjoy independent and confident lives.

A route to progress

Our courses are full time to enable young people to make informed choices about future pathways. Students with few or no formal

 qualifications find these an excellent stepping stone towards becoming more independent. The courses enable progression onto a vocational course in the future and Stanmore College offers provision all the way up to level 3 and Higher Education.

Wondering what the foundation learning course involves?

• You will be helped to boost your English and maths skills.
• You will also have a taster of different vocational subjects to help you choose what you would like to do in the future. These could include business, digital skills, health care, sport or IT.
• These courses are designed to suit individual’s needs, thus lots of support, to help you to gain confidence and progress well.
• You will have tutorials which will focus on life skills, the community, employability and personal development.
• Preparation for the world of work includes cv writing, interview practice, developing confidence, money management and activities to familiarise yourself with employment skills.
• There are also additional sessions outside the classroom for those who want them as outlined above.
• Every programme leads to an externally accredited qualification and enables you to apply for courses at the next level.

This could be the course for you if you have not yet made up your mind about which subject area you would like to study. From foundation learning you could progress to a level 1 or 2 qualification in one of the subject areas.

By trying different subjects you will have different options at the end of the course tp choose from/ study next. Or you might want to go to employment or an apprenticeship.

If you want to focus on developing your English skills as part of your studies, why not consider our ESOL Plus Study Programme. ESOL means English for Speakers of Other Languages and the qualification is designed to help you develop the English skills you use every day and help you move on to further study. The ESOL Plus Study Programme also includes tasters of vocational study areas.

Study at Level 1

If you want to study at level 1, and you already know which subject area you would like to focus on – here are some more courses you might like to consider:  

For Business:

• BTEC Diploma in Business Administration (EDEXCEL)

For Early Years:

• Entry Level Certificate in Caring for A Child/Children (Entry 3)
• NCFE CACHE Award in Caring for Children Level 1

For Computing:

• BTEC IT Users (ITQ) Level 1

For Engineering

• BTEC Level 1 Diploma in Engineering

For Science:

• BTEC Diploma in Applied Science - Level 1

For Sport

• NCFE Sports Programme - Level 1

For Creative Arts and Media:

• UAL Diploma in Art Design & Media L1