About Community Learning

Glasgow Kelvin College’s Community Learning, funded through the Wider Access programme, is designed to support learning for groups of people experiencing disadvantage which:

  • makes access to main campus programmes difficult for them; and
  • who would benefit from a partnership approach in which their individual learning needs are supported through review by the community group or service requesting the support.

The College does not advertise this provision: it is designed for community groups and services working in partnership with the College to identify the learning support needs of local residents they already work with.

Community Learning Overview

Criteria for Community Learning Courses

The Glasgow Kelvin College Wider Access programme is designed for community groups and organisations which

  • are not for profit;
  • are within the Glasgow region; and which support excluded groups:
  • would not normally be able to access mainstream learning opportunities
  • support community capacity building
  • are working with groups of at least 12 adults

Courses are designed to ensure learners receive additional tutor attention and take place in a familiar and local setting (a community venue).

While the programme is available across the Glasgow Region, priority is given to the communities in the North East of the city.

Community Partner Requirements

Partners should:

  • know the learning needs of the local community and the members of the group they are seeking to supporting,
  • review progress with learners in a friendly and supportive, informal manner, and record learner progression.
  • confirm that the group faces barriers to mainstream main campus college provision
  • Be the direct contact between the learners and the college.

The Wider Access request form (signed by the learners’ representative) formalises this relationship.

Learning Options

Courses are designed to support employability or have a clear progression route identified and should support the development of core skills (Digital Skills, Communications, Numeracy, Working with Others, Problem Solving) as well as having a vocational, personal or social skills development focus.

Recent courses provided include: 

  • Allergen Awareness
  • Digital Skills
  • Beauty Essentials Basics ( Skin care, gel nail polish and manicure)
  • Child Development & Positive Parenting Techniques
  • Writing Skills
  • Cooking Skills
  • Customer Care
  • Employability Skills
  • ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages)
  • Exploring Wellbeing (Building Resilience & Coping Skills)
  • Healthy Eating;
  • Infection Control
  • Mental Health First Aid
  • Personal Development (Confidence-building, goal-setting, self-growth)
  • Photography
  • REHIS Elementary Health and Safety
  • REHIS Emergency First Aid
  • REHIS Food Hygiene
  • Risk Assessment
  • Scottish Certificate for Licensed Premises Staff

Courses can be tailored to meet the needs and requirements of learners, including length of course delivery.   Courses can be arranged at various times throughout the year between late August and mid June.

Course Request Process

To discuss the needs of your group with one of our Curriculum Managers who support the programme, please contact Claire Walters and Andrea Macaulay at communitylearning@glasgowkelvin.ac.uk

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