PARENTS & CARERS - EDUCATION
As part of your young adults transition they might be looking to go to college but do not know what they would like to study. Fairway employs professional facilitators to help your young adult through this process as well as introducing them to the college environment. The facilitator will support your young adult for the first few days making sure they know their way around as well as where to get help when they need it.
The Fairway facilitator will keep close contact with the college identifying in partnership what abilities your young adult has and seek further opportunities that will compliment your young adult’s studies. Getting into mainstream further education really depends on whether the college is able to meet your young adult’s individual needs. However, having said that the variety of courses available at colleges today is amazing, so they should be able to find one that suits them. Bear in mind that not all courses are recognised. In other words, not all classes are SQA or ASDAN but all have learning outcomes and assessments. Colleges always recognise student learning and effort.
Colleges take an individualised approach to matching the correct course for the student. In general, students with additional support needs will join classes that meet their educational needs rather than being placed in a supported learning or any other class in the college. However, some colleges do have supported learning classes for people with additional support needs. It is important that your young adult pick a course they will enjoy or that will be useful to them. Before your young adult signs up make sure you both understand:
- What it’s about
- How it will be run
- How long it will last
- If there’s an exam or continuous assessment
- What accreditation or qualification they will get at the end of it
Choosing a subject/course to study can seem a daunting task. As there are so many subjects/courses to choose from, your young adult may feel overwhelmed by it all. Every year there are thousands of students who ask the same question: what should I study? Below are some points to consider with your young adult before making that all-important decision.
There is no one course which suits everyone but it is best to do plenty of research in order to find a course that matches your young adult’s interests, career aspirations, and talents. The best way to decide what your young adult would like to study is to ask them the following questions:
- Which subjects interest them?
- What talents do they have?
- What job have they talked about doing after attending college?
- Which academic skills need improving?
The Fairway Facilitator will help your young adult to find a college, course or other training that interests them, ensuring that the course is beneficial as well as developmental and upon completion, will often provide them with a certificate they can show to future employers. The facilitator will keep you up to date with their findings and consult with you before submitting an application.
A Facilitator will also assist your young adult to complete application forms, bursary/benefit/funding forms and any other paperwork they need to fill out. Your young adult does not require to claim a bursary if they are in a supported education course as they can still claim benefits even on a full time course. Fairway would help you to find out if you would be better off doing this.
Below, please find links to local colleges and other useful websites:
Colleges
www.ayrcoll.ac.uk
www.kilmarnock.ac.uk
www.jameswatt.ac.uk
Careers Advice and Funding
www.careers-scotland.org.uk
www.careers-scotland.org.uk/Education/Funding
