News & Press
Uxbridge College is gearing up for a series of ‘Virtual Open Day’ events from 4 June in the shape of live information sessions, Q&As, careers advice, and enrolment details.
The new ‘Virtual Open Days’ are designed to give parents and prospective students a chance to find out more about the fantastic range of options from September 2020 as school students make plans for what to do after GCSE.
The live and recorded events are being run on the Zoom video platform due to the current social distancing restrictions and are bookable online now. Virtual Open Day sessions are available for various subject areas - including STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects, Computing, Business, Hair and Beauty, Catering and Hospitality, Creative Arts and Media, Public Services, Sport, Travel and Tourism. They also include general information about college facilities and life.
Apprenticeship programmes will also be covered with a chance to find out more about the unique advantages of these earn-as-you-learn programmes.
From September 2020, Uxbridge College will be continuing to offer GCSEs, A Levels, the new T Levels - the technical equivalent of A Levels - and the whole range of skills-based qualifications including BTECs, City & Guilds, and University of the Arts London (UAL) creative subjects. Our HE technical vocational programmes will be delivered through the West London Institute of Technology based at our Uxbridge, Hayes and Harrow-on-the-Hill campuses with new facilities expected to be ready in September 2020.
Dr Darrell DeSouza (pictured right), Group Principal of Uxbridge College and the merged college group HCUC, said “Whilst it is difficult to convey the full excitement and engagement of student life at HCUC without currently being able to invite people onto campus, we are aiming to share as much as we can about the flavour and quality of studying at our two fantastic colleges going forward. Our talented staff have been so creative and innovative in continuing to offer high quality teaching and learning to our students during the remote learning period. Importantly, these high levels of teaching and support that our students have come to expect, provide links to so many great future opportunities - in college, at university, and in the workplace.”
Pat Carvalho Principal of Harrow College and Deputy CEO of HCUC: “I’m pleased to confirm we continue to offer a great range of very popular, high quality programmes for every level, full and part-time, for both young people and adults. It really is best to enrol now and secure a place at any of our campuses to ensure you are on the right track to employment, further study at college or university.”
School students getting ready for college in September can also download Uxbridge College ‘Get Ahead’ packs from the website. The packs contain a programme of activities and resources including links to educational videos and tasks such as creating posters and learning summaries.
Careers advice and information also continues to be made available on an ongoing basis with remote support including advice and guidance for learners applying to college and Zoom advice and information sessions for parents and learners. Young people can make contact through the college website, facebook, twitter, instagram, or email and phone.
* For more information about Virtual Open Days and to book sessions go to uxbridgecollege.ac.uk/opendays
* For more information about applications and enrolment go to uxbridgecollege.ac.uk/apply
* For Get Ahead packs go to uxbridgecollege.ac.uk/getahead
* To book a Zoom advice or careers session go to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
As part of ongoing community efforts during lockdown, Uxbridge College donated 1,000 branded small bottles of hand sanitisers to local care homes and health services, and bottles of water and Easter gifts to staff at Wexham Park Hospital as well as to Queen Mary’s Maternity Unit and Intensive Care Unit at West Middlesex University Hospital. A number of the students have parents and relatives working at the hospitals.
The hand sanitisers were originally ordered as giveaways for Healthy College Week, and Uniformed Public Services students paid for and wrapped small gifts and donated boxes of chocolate bars and bottles of water. Hospital staff made a video of images of staff with their gifts as a ‘thank you’ to the students. The students also made a video of themselves clapping and saying ‘thank you’ during the now regular weekly Thursday night ‘Clap for our Carers’ featuring Crimewatch presenter Rav Wilding, who also gave a talk to the students earlier this year.
The initiative to donate the hand sanitisers was organised by the student support team, who run Healthy College Week, who contacted local care homes that Uxbridge College works with. Annual Healthy College Week, which was due to take place at the end of April, includes a range of activities and events to support physical and mental health and wellbeing. This year students have been sent the Coronavirus Anxiety Workbook and other online resources, instead of taking part in the usual in-house activities.
Dr Darrell DeSouza, Principal of Uxbridge College and HCUC, headed out in mask and gloves, with Kiran Rami, Head of Guidance and Student Services, to make the deliveries.
Dr DeSouza said: “It means a lot to us at Uxbridge College and HCUC to be able to make even a small contribution to our care services during this incredibly difficult and stressful time. If we can do anything to raise a smile amongst our amazing health workers or to support efforts to stop the spread of the virus, there is no question whatsoever that we are going to do it. And it’s even better if we can make it part of our students’ learning and personal growth as with the Public Services students taking the initiative with the donations to Wexham Park Hospital staff - I’d definitely like to give them a shoutout!”
The Uniformed Public Service students gained volunteering hours for organising the donations, and are also planning a sponsored run which they will do individually during their daily exercise periods.
The hand sanitisers were given to:
Sweetcroft Residential Care Home in Hillingdon
Woodlands Care Home in Ickenham
Cedar Brook GP Practice in Hayes
Aston House Care Home in Hayes
New Horizon Care Home in Hayes
West London NHS Trust – Limes Dementia service
Franklin House Care Home in West Drayton
Additional collections were also made by Age UK, West London NHS Trust, Care UK, and Age UK Hillingdon, Harrow & Brent.
To see the Clap for Carers video go to https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2283803055055347
Students and staff at Uxbridge College/Harrow College are celebrating after jointly hitting the No. 1 spot in London for success for 16-18 year olds for the second year running - plus showing an improvement on its own performance the previous year.
HCUC, the merged college group for Harrow College and Uxbridge College, achieved the highest overall achievement rate in the capital at 88% for 2018/19, in the figures released in March, up by 2.4% for 2017/18. HCUC teaches more than 12,000 students in this age range.
The figures rank London’s 27 colleges and college groups - which teach more than 1,000,000 students between them - in the tables published by the Education and Skills Funding Agency in March 2020. The data covers achievement rates in all classroom-based qualifications including in science, engineering, computing, business and the creative arts.
Dr Darrell DeSouza, Group Principal of Uxbridge College and HCUC, said: “This represents a tremendous performance by the students and staff, the best in the College’s long-running record of success. Importantly, the 16-18 Achievement statistic is based on substantial qualifications that have meaning to Universities and employers. The College’s strong reputation and high–end performance continues to attract London’s 16-18 learners.”
Dylan McTaggart, Deputy Principal Curriculum & Quality HCUC, said: “What a year as alongside the HCUC No. 1 16-18 spot for achievement rates, our students have made the highest A Level progress of all London Colleges. Similarly for English and Maths where HCUC students make the highest and third highest progress respectively in London. We are also very pleased with our high 19+ achievement figures at 91.7%, including ESOL & vocational students, which is above all benchmarks, and continues to ensure our adult students improve their progression, employability skills and employment opportunities. Congratulations to our HCUC staff and students!”
HCUC’s QAR (Qualification Achievement Rate) in the Department for Education’s National Achievement Rate Tables places it 1% above the next best performing college in London, and 1.3% above the next best performing college in west London. This is a particularly impressive performance, given that the College is the second largest 16-18 provider in London and has also retained this first place slot for the second year running. These figures are also a particularly demanding measure as they compare those students who were successful to the number who started the course.