General Information

Whether you are returning to learning after many years or you are a recent school leaver, we hope that your experience with Argyll College will be rewarding and enjoyable.
This handbook will provide you with useful information during your time at the College, so please take the time to read it, and ask your local Learning Centre Manager if you would like to discuss anything.

Argyll College is made up of 11 learning centres throughout Argyll. Each centre is staffed by a Learning Centre Manager and there is a central team of management and support staff. Every centre is equipped with computers, video-conference, audio-conference and study facilities. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the facilities available to them in our centres.

If you would like a copy of our current organisational chart showing all Argyll College staff, please ask your local centre manager.

Flexible Learning with Argyll College

A wide variety of courses are offered through Argyll College, from traditionally taught classes to those using new teaching and learning methods. All will offer flexibility of study both in terms of time and method of delivery and involve an element of self-study. The majority of our courses lead to SQA qualifications.

We currently have 3 types of delivery methods for our courses:

• Open learning where students can start throughout the year and work from home or in the centre with a tutor available by telephone or email.
• Partly taught, partly open learning, where students typically attend 20 hours of tutor led sessions and do 20 hours open learning for a 40 hour Unit. This requires a minimum number of students to run these taught sessions.
• Fully taught classes where attendance is mandatory.

As one of the 15 Colleges and research institutions that make up UHI Millennium Institute, we can also offer a small number of Higher Education degree courses either on a part time or full time basis. These are offered remotely and involve video conference tutorials and on-line delivery.

Due to the unique geography of Argyll and Bute, flexibility is the key to our success. To help maximise the benefits and overcome some of the difficulties you may encounter, Argyll College offers support throughout your course and will offer any guidance or referral that you require.

What does this mean for you?

Argyll College will provide a place for students to meet and study where there will be local guidance and support. Access to all our facilities, such as computers and The Internet is available to all students.

Most of your contact will be with your local Learning Centre Manager. He/she has a wide range of duties, possibly the most important of which will be to offer support where necessary to help you successfully complete your course.

Typically, the Learning Centre Manager may:

· Help you decide which course is most appropriate to your needs.
· Help you carry out self assessment, set goals and targets.
· Arrange for materials to be sent to you.
· Agree on which centre facilities you will require and arrange for you to have access to them.
· Assist you in using any equipment with which you are unfamiliar.
· Help sort out any problems you might encounter with your tutor or other aspect of course provision.
· Provide exit guidance before you leave your course.

STUDENT SERVICES

Guidance
Students will be offered guidance before entering a course, during study and on completion of a course. Where specialist guidance is required or requested, students will be referred to Careers Scotland or another support agency.

Access to library facilities
Argyll College has a small library, and we may be able to source books from other centres to help you with your studies. Please ask your centre manager if you need a book that is not available at your centre.

Financial Support
Learning Centre Managers will be able to advise you on any financial support to which you might be entitled. This will range from providing information on our fee waiver policy to financial support available for full time courses.

Peer Support
You may feel that you work better in a group, and we try to encourage students to meet at the centres and support each other through the course. If you feel that you would benefit from this, please speak to your centre manager about other students on the same course. With your permission, we will pass on your contact details to other students.

Discussion Boards
We are currently setting up discussion boards on our website so that students from all over Argyll can get in touch with each other online and discuss aspects of their course or experiences of being an Argyll College student. Please ask your Centre Manager how you can access this either at home or in the centre.