The care industry requires highly trained professionals to improve the lives of individuals across the lifespan. At Glasgow Kelvin College, we provide a comprehensive and practical education to all care students.
The care courses are delivered across three campuses, having specialised care rooms at the East End and Springburn campuses. These rooms enable you to develop your practical and clinical skills in a simulated environment, preparing you for real-world scenarios you may encounter in your future career. Such hands-on experience can greatly enhance your learning and confidence.
The team of lecturers at Glasgow Kelvin College have a wealth of professional experience across various sectors within the care industry. This diverse background allows us to provide real-life examples and practical insights to you. Drawing from our experiences in social work, occupational therapy, prison service, addictions, mental health, forensics, learning disabilities and nursing, the lecturers can make the teaching more engaging and relevant. By connecting theory with practice, you can better understand how concepts are applied in real-life situations.
Overall, Glasgow Kelvin College are committed to equipping you with the knowledge, skills, and practical experience necessary to succeed in the care industry. This is an excellent opportunity for you if you are seeking a rewarding career in improving the lives of others.
We offer a range of flexible options if you are interested in pursuing a career in the care industry, with most courses available part-time and full-time.
The variety of qualifications offered, starting at Level 4 and progressing to HNC and Diploma, and SSSC registered awards such as SVQ2, ensures that you can pursue qualifications that align with your career goals. This flexibility caters to those either just starting their educational journey or looking to advance existing qualifications.
The inclusion of SWAP Access courses is particularly beneficial if you have been out of education for more than five years. These courses provide a supportive pathway for re-entry into studying and offer a smooth transition to HNC or university.
Glasgow Kelvin College care team has established links with the local community, voluntary and private organisations and statutory bodies which ensure you have access to relevant work placements to further enhance your learning experience.
The opportunity to attend additional short courses such as REHISS, First Aid and Moving and Assisting provides you with valuable supplementary skills and knowledge that can boost your qualifications and make you more competitive in the job market.
Overall, the range of qualifications, flexible study options, practical focus, work placements and additional courses offered by Glasgow Kelvin College allow us to provide a comprehensive and well-rounded educational experience for those interested in the care industry.
Thinking About a Career in Social Work? 💚
Not sure where to start after time away from education?
Hear from Holly and Angela, current students on our SWAP Access to Social Work course, as they share their experience and what it’s like to return to learning.
Designed for adult learners, the course supports you to build confidence, develop skills and take the next step towards a career in social work.
A fresh start. A clear path forward.
The whole course in general was excellent. Learning new skills and being around a large group of adults all aiming to achieve the same goal was pretty cool.
The staff were great from start to finish, always there if you needed extra support.
The course has given me great confidence in the important things that are needed to become a paramedic. Learning skills like essay writing and research has been invaluable.
The SWAP accessing to nursing course has made me a confident and successful student and I have achieved more than I could have imagined both on a personal and academic level. The tutors were approachable, engaging and I truly looked forward to each block and was eager to learn more. I could not have asked for a better class, as peers we supported each other and were a group who truly worked together to achieve success from the start to end of the course.
The course has prepared me for higher education, and I genuinely believe without my peers and tutors I would not be where I am today. I feel this course has prepared me for university and I am so thankful for this year which has allowed me to progress in my career as a nurse.
My favourite part of the course has been being able to push myself outside of my comfort zone in order to learn the necessary skills to move on to university. I felt I was maybe too old to start over again in a new career but since meeting lots of like-minded people it’s gave me the confidence to go for it and I’ve learned so much along the way.
The course has been instrumental in helping me gain a place at my chosen university to be able to go on to study a Paramedic Science degree and ultimately have a future career as a Paramedic in the Scottish Ambulance Service.
The access class has been life changing for me. The whole course has been structured so well and paced so you are not overwhelmed. It has been a great introduction to further education, alongside the SWAP prep for HE.
The teaching staff are so helpful and genuinely want you to succeed. The college is bright and welcoming, great food in the canteen and good vending machine selection and library staff have helped with any queries I've had.
The SWAP course has been a life-changing opportunity, giving me a second chance to access education and pursue a career path I couldn't have taken without it.
Coming from a non-traditional background, it opened doors to further study and helped rebuild my confidence. Being surrounded by others who had also been out of education created a supportive and understanding environment.The friendships and strong bonds I’ve formed with my classmates over the past year have made this journey even more meaningful. It’s been challenging, rewarding, and has set me on a path I never thought possible.
Holly: I'm Holly, I'm doing the Access to Social Work course.
Angela: Hi I'm Angela, I'm doing the Swap Access course.
Holly: We're going to speak to you about the course and what we enjoy about it.
On this course we don't just focus solely on social work, we do lots of other things, loss and grief, we do social influences because that is a big part of social work as well, not just working with the clients.
Angela: Also things like criminal justice, contemporary families, health and mental health. This is all things that we probably need as we want to progress on.
Holly: I came back to education as I was a carer for my grandfather. When unfortunately he did pass away, I felt like I could use these skills to help other people and advocate for other people.
I was out of education for quite a long time and went on to have children. Taking that time out of education and then coming back, it was a bit daunting but it's so worthwhile.
Angela: I came back to education as a mature student, a really mature student.
Things that happened in my personal life, I wanted to come back and do the social work course so that I could help people in a similar situation to myself.
I'm now confident enough to give something back.
Holly: So my advice for anybody that's looking to come back into education, don't hesitate, just do it. If this is what you are wanting to do and you're wanting to progress, you're wanting to achieve the dreams and the goals that you want to achieve.
Just apply for the course.
Angela: It doesn't matter what age you are. Come back to college, this has got to be one of the best things that I've ever done and it's really, really, really helped me.
The applications are still open for the course. Apply on the Glasgow Kelvin website and it will honestly change your life.
Courtney: Hi, my name is Courtney Anderson.
Jodie: And my name is Jodie Stark.
Courtney: We're doing the SVQ2 Health and Social Care.
Jodie: We've just recently been part of an exchange programme from Glasgow Kelvin to Talland College in Holland. Went over to take some classes with them. We visited some of our placements and we got to work with different service users and we got to see loads of different environments, how it was different from Glasgow and Scotland.
Courtney: Also went to a care home.
Jodie: An old hospital had been like renovated, kind of created a new space. They built shops and hairdressers and pubs for their service users.
Courtney: We went to one of the facilities and were doing this practical stuff about what to do if people like turn violent.
Jodie: We called it Rock and Water and it was like building conflict kind of resolution skills.
My favourite part of the Holland exchange experience was probably more getting to see different culture, how different they learn over there and how different their curriculum is for our courses.
I really enjoyed going on days out with some of the exchange students and also going to class in a different country in a different environment. It was hard but it was really, really, really interesting.
Courtney: What I also really loved was the buildings. The buildings are...
Jodie: The scenery was beautiful.
Courtney: I also went to that museum.
Jodie: A body works museum where they preserve people and put them in the museum. It's mostly for healthcare students to go and learn more about it.
Courtney: Also had before and after what would happen if you had like a stroke?
Jodie: Yeah, it's like your brain before and after a stroke, your brain before and after Alzheimer's. They were really good.
