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Southern Regional College are the first and only further education college in Northern Ireland to receive formal accreditation status from the Royal Society of Chemistry, and one of just six Further Education providers in the UK with permission to use The Royal Society of Chemistry’s crest!
The College was placed under the microscope during the accreditation process which took a year and a half to complete. Formal written submissions were required together with validation visits from Society partners, not to mention lengthy responses to written and verbal questions. During their visit the RSC noted the quality of support SRC staff gave to students in both their accademic and personal lives.
This accreditation was received for the College’s Higher Level Apprenticeships (HLAs) in Applied Industrial Science, both Life Science and Chemical pathways. Students enrolling on the HLA’s presently work at Norbrook, Almac or Randox four days a week and attend the College on the fifth day. This ensures students gain practical and relevant knowledge within their chosen career path.
These HLA's has been running for eight years at SRC in Newry and Portadown but now students have the added benefit of getting professional accreditation alongside the qualification.
This year there are 17 students on the Applied Industrial Science HLA. After two years at SRC their employer offers them an option to continue studying for a BSc at Ulster University and following that they can even study for an MSc while still employed as an apprentice.
HLAs are open to all adults, not just school leavers. A large proportion of HLA students are adults reskilling or returning to education, as the HLA programme enables a wage to be earned whilst learning. Fees for the programme are fully paid by the Department for the Economy, making HLAs an attractive prospect to minimise student debt. The HLA Applied Science programme is a two-year undertaking with around seventeen students currently in their first year of study. To date, around eighty students have completed the HLA Applied Science course.
The RSC accreditation supports the academic and workplace training that has been carried out by the college and the employer. It also helps students in terms of portability, so if they wish to travel it travels with them. Deirdre Murray, Specialist Lecturer in Science at SRC said "The RSC accreditation is known worldwide so they can apply for jobs all around the world if they want to. Ulster University may not be so well known but the RSC is a huge organisation so they are able to then say, my qualification is worth the paper it is written on, it's been accredited by this worldwide organisation."
Laura Martin, Curriculum Area Manager at SRC added "It's a stamp of excellence by the college. Students or potential students who are going to apply for our HLA's this year can apply with the confidence that we are RSC accreditated and therefore they know they are going to get high quality teaching and learning when they're here."
Prospective students are invited to attend The Big Apprenticeship Event in the College’s Newry West campus on Tuesday 7 February or at Craigavon Civic Centre on Thursday 9 February from 5:30pm to 7:30pm to gain more information and make an application.
For more information on the HLA programmes check out www.src.ac.uk
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