Latest Advice on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Our promise to our students is that we will be providing you with an inspiring learning programme that develops the skills, knowledge and behaviours you need to progress to the next steps in your chosen career path.
We are delivering a ‘hybrid’ model for most students which involves attendance two days a week onsite in College and significant work to complete remotely online using the Microsoft Teams platform. We are committed to supporting our students’ learning, and also have their welfare and the health of them, and their families, uppermost in our minds. We will be providing training to ensure all students can access the learning opportunities.
We continue to communicate with our transport companies to ensure our students are as safe as possible whilst travelling to and from College, and in line with government advice. This includes strongly advising students to continue to wear a mask on the bus, use hand sanitiser and maintain social distancing where possible.
We continue to interview and engage with those of you who have applied for commencing studies next September and we look forward to welcoming you to Kingston Maurward College. Applications for September 2021 are open so please visit www.kmc.ac.uk/college to apply. Can I take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support and patience during these challenging times. Stay safe and please get in touch if you have any queries.
Very best wishes
Oliver Symons
Deputy Principal (Learning & Performance)
For more detailed or specific information, please see the information below and if you have any queries during this time, you can still reach out to us on our website or by emailing us on marketing@kmc.ac.uk
Please continue checking this webpage to keep up-to-date with our latest developments and future information about the new academic year.
This is an evolving situation and official advice changes regularly. We will continue to review this policy and keep you updated as to any changes.
- All visitors including parents must have a scheduled appointment.
- Please do not visit the campus if you have developed a fever (above 37.8C) a new, continuous cough or other COVID-19 symptoms within the last seven days.
- Please do not visit if in the past 14 days you have travelled from, or transited through, any of the countries or areas that are currently on ‘lockdown’, or anyone in your household is self–isolating in accordance with current guidelines.
- Please ensure you report to Reception hatch to sign in. You will be met by a member of staff or directed to the area you are visiting.
- Please use hand sanitiser before entering any building and wash your hands before leaving home and during your visit where possible.
- You are not requested to wear a face mask but if you are more comfortable wearing a face mask, please bring your own.
- Please observe social distancing during your visit.
- We would like to advise you that Kingston Maurward is currently discouraging handshakes as a greeting. We apologise for not being able to give you our usual warm welcome, but we must take the current situation very seriously and look after the welfare of our students and staff.
- As the COVID-19 situation is changing rapidly, we will revise procedures in line with government guidelines.
We thank you for your understanding and support.
For our full statement on Remote Learning, please visit the following policies:
You can apply to all our courses and Apprenticeships at www.kmc.ac.uk/college. Applications can be made online through our website. Search for the course you are interested in and fill in an application form.
Yes you can. Please email your subject change request to admissions@kmc.ac.uk
In your email please state the course you have been offered a place on and the course you would like to transfer to.
For some transfers within the same department there may not need to be another interview but if you are requesting to transfer to a different department, our Admissions team will be in contact with you to discuss the new course and any conditions that may apply.
At the College, we are supporting employers, organisations and apprentices to continue with apprenticeships wherever possible and that our decisions are in line with current Government advice.
We’ve had discussions with many smaller employers, who are feeling anxious that they may have to terminate the contract with an apprentice but also don’t want to take that course of action. In these situations, we often advise that furloughing the apprentice is a good option and allows us to continue training the apprentice. We are then able to deliver underpinning subject knowledge matter, in accordance with their apprenticeship and ensuring the apprentice is up-to-date and ready to restart back in the workplace.
For larger employers, the same option may well be discussed but some will not want to furlough staff, particularly those in the health and care industries. In these instances, where employees are struggling to keep up with workload and the commitment to the apprenticeship, a break in learning of at least four weeks is often the right solution. This removes the anxiety of having to complete assignments whilst dealing with a highly stressful environment and situation but allows them to return to the apprenticeship in the near future.
We realise that this is a difficult time for employers and apprentices and we deal with each person on a case-by-case basis to ensure decisions are right for them. The safety and wellbeing of our apprentices, the employers that we work with and our staff is of fundamental importance to us and we are regularly reviewing how we deliver apprenticeships in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some courses have been cancelled prior to starting and some courses have started but have not been able to be completed. The College is evaluating each of these courses and looking at the possibility of rescheduling where possible or processing refunds where appropriate. These will be actioned in due course.
In the short term, all Kingston Maurward College events, including Open Days have been cancelled until further notice. This is following government guidance on mass gatherings. We are holding our Open Days virtually and more information can be found here: www.kmc.ac.uk/college/information/open-days/virtual-open-event/
We are keen to still meet you! We will be arranging interviews to take place via telephone rather than face-to-face. We will be in touch to arrange these with you directly.
Yes. Class size and the balance of online with on-campus delivery has been planned to support your studies. This approach is called Blended Learning. It involves online study that is linked to sessions in College, or some modules may be suitable without face to face delivery in the classroom. There will also be opportunity for ‘live’ lessons to be delivered online.
Transport update (as of 8th January 2021)
I wanted to give you an update on transport and payments. We are working closely with the bus companies to ensure we are able to provide transport for all the vulnerable learners and those students of key workers who are not safe at home, as well as maximising the efficiency of the service.
For those of you who pay monthly I would propose that you cancel your standing order for February and March. If we are able to resume normal college activity towards the end of February or in March then your standing order would need to be started again in April. If we are unable to have students back in college until after the Easter break in April than your standing order would need to start again in May.
If you are in receipt of a transport bursary and do not pay a monthly fee then please take no further action.
If you have paid for the transport in full then please get in touch with the Student Administration team shelley.collins@kmc.ac.uk and we will discuss options with you.
We thank you for your support and understanding at this time as we continue to focus on providing learning for all students.
Very best wishes
Oliver Symons – Deputy Principal Learning & Performance
At this stage whilst the college is still open for vulnerable learners and the period of lockdown is relatively short, all bus routes are still needed to run and the bus companies therefore can’t pass on any savings to the college. If there is a situation when they don’t run various routes then we will pass this cost saving onto students. The cost charged to students effectively reflects the total cost of running the buses which the college already heavily subsidise and is not a daily/weekly charge.
Oliver Symons
Deputy Principal Learning & Performance
The College will still be able to provide regular contact with a tutor, as well as module tutors, remotely or online. As soon as restrictions allow, face to face support may resume. The College’s student support service will still operate remotely but they will still be able to deal with enquiries for support, and sign post students to relevant services as necessary.
No, you will not receive a reduction in fees for online-only tuition as the College would still be teaching you and supporting you with your study. We are expecting to start next academic year with a blended delivery model, meaning you will receive a combination of online tuition, and in-situ small group, practical tuition sessions on campus.
The Government’s dedicated Coronavirus (COVID-19) webpage is being kept up-to-date with the latest advice and guidance: gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-information-for-the-public
For more information about self-isolation, please visit nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-advice/