As students across the UK celebrate their A Level and BTEC results today North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College (NWSLC) is gearing up to support students wishing to continue their studies on higher education courses as an alternative to going to university.

Enquiries about the college's higher education options can be made via an online platform that will provide guidance to everyone who is due to receive their Level 3 results, with staff standing by to provide one-to-one support remotely.

Carrie-Anne Abdulai, Director of Higher Education at NWSLC said, "Student satisfaction with the NWSLC higher education experience has improved significantly over the past few years, with our results now ten per cent higher than the national average. Our fees are lower than those for university-based courses and enable students to stay local. Our small class sizes make social distancing easier to manage and study patterns can be flexible to cater for mature students who might be returning to education following redundancy.

"Our course options are highly focused on employment in a variety of industry sectors from engineering and manufacturing to creative arts, media and design, and healthcare. All courses are taught in industry-standard facilities and tutors have extensive experience in their field so they can advise about next steps and career routes."

Currently, one third of students aged under 19 that apply through UCAS study in 162 colleges which teach 118,000 higher education students. Colleges deliver 84 per cent of HNCs, 66 per cent of HNDs and 67 per cent of foundation degrees.

Carrie-Anne Abdulai added, "As well as being a registered provider with the Office for Students we are an accredited centre for delivering professional qualifications for the workplace, including AAT, CIM and CIPD. We welcome enquiries from all prospective students whether they are returning to work, seeking career progression, or just starting out on their higher education journey."

Results from the National Student Survey (NSS), published today, show that around nine out of ten students from NWSLC continue to be satisfied with their experience of higher education, against a backdrop of declining satisfaction for all measures across nearly 400 UK universities and colleges in a year where overall satisfaction fell by eight points to 75 per cent.

NWSLC offers an extensive range of Higher National Certificates (HNCs), Higher National Diplomas (HNDs) that can be converted into full degrees with a further year of study to gain degree accreditation. The college works closely with its partner universities Coventry University, the University of Warwick, and the University of West London to deliver a range of foundation degrees and bachelor's degrees. Specialist provision for the automotive sector is available through the MIRA Technology Institute.