Chesterfield College

Everyone I know who goes to the college has told me to avoid it but me being naive wanted to apply anyway as I didn’t feel I had any other option. I soon discovered that they don’t seem to care about their applicants. I had applied for a course due to needing more qualifications for university— Chesterfield college was local and convenient for me but the practicalities were appalling.

I had to arrange multiple interviews with them due to complete negligence on their end, having not rang me for them. I was fed up of having to contact them to rearrange interviews so I withdrew my application and found an alternative route.

If this is the case with you, apply somewhere else. Don’t go to a college that doesn’t seem to care about you. They are representing your future and it’s important for you to be in an environment that motivates you to succeed.

Was sent here on day release (Apprenticeship) to study L3 mechanical engineering. Fast turn around on staff who are incapable of teaching that just told you to 'google it'. The second course was HNc in Mechanical engineering with the course leader being prosecuted for fraud half way through the year (you can't even make it up, his story is in the newspaper), he then left. Another lecturer for HNc was in college on one Thursday when i was in and then the next week we found out he just left on the Friday and went back to his home country without telling anybody (this lecturer had a PHd, which i now find questionable). The final nail in the coffin was towards the end of the HNc course, when none of the assignments had been externally verified and we were told the issued assignments we were given did not meet the criteria, this resulted in everyone having there grade marked down to a pass mark.

Every apprentice has said the same thing year in, year out. Thankfully we have now moved all apprentices to another college. Unfortunately for myself i am now playing catch up in my full degree trying to learn the math skills i should have learned at the L3 / HNc level.

I am currently studying a level 3 course within this college, really great college, staff are friendly, students are friendly. They often hold events within the main area of college.

One downside is that some of our teachers have left partway through the year which has disrupted for some time however the college quickly found new teachers so after one teacher left, a replacement will be in by next week.

Courses here are also cheap to those who have to pay, it really surprised me as I was looking into some courses for my mum as she wants to go to college. Courses range typically from £1000 to £2000.

Great college with dedicated staff and making the best with government spending cuts

5/5 for the teachers
3/5 for the college

I took an AS level business course and three A-level courses (Biology, Chemistry, Maths).
Like with every school there are good and bad teachers so this review will only cover the departments that I interacted with while I attended.

Summary:
Overall I think this college does a subpar job when a teacher requires a replacement however I believe that once a teacher is established it's an excellent learning opportunity. There is very good communication between teachers and students but not with the admnistration. There are plenty of facilities for students to utilise to aide their learning. Mental health facilities (this is a second hand opinon) and extracurriculars are lackluster. Teachers will bend over backwards for students that are willing to learn or improve when they ask for help. Homework is standard for most classes. Many resources are provided to students.

The full review:

The college provides a wide range of courses, however, the availability of courses is lackluster due to low enrollment rates and budget cuts. From my own interactions, the teachers here are nothing but helpful and take every opportunity to help their students when approached.

The management of teacher absences (two of my teachers quit/left in my first year) is poor. I had three substitutes for most of my business class and a new substitute every month for half of my first year of biology making it quite difficult to keep up, this was exacerbated by a change in exam board part way through the year.

The administration team is lackluster with *many* students continuing to stay enrolled in classes that were dropped or swapped months prior, attendance was affected because of this. These issues sometimes continued throughout the year despite many complaints. Changes to events or important updates were withheld from students sometimes up to a week *after* they took effect. Communication between administration and teachers seemed poor from the conversations I had with mine, though this may only have been the case for the departments I spoke to/with.

Printing is free for the first 100 sheets, however, I never had the need to use these as my teachers were willing to print anything required for the class when asked.

Textbooks are provided for free by some teachers to all students in their class, however, not all teachers did this.

In the class dedicated to attending university, students were pressured to go to university immediately coming out of college without talking about the financials or any other part of going into university. There was little regard or support (that I found) for exploring apprenticeships either.

Student ID's are required on premises and are given for free, at the time I attended it was £1 for a replacement if you lose or destroy it. This was done for free when mine stopped reading entirely.

Classes are scheduled in periods throughout the day/week, this schedule stays the same throughout the year.
There are three periods a day with a lunch break at 1 pm
There are 10 minute breaks between two consecutive classes or 40 minutes for lunch. These are to get to the next class and students could do with the time as they please.
Most places for students to stay during breaks are outdoors, so rain is a problem if you want to sit.

There is a library and computers that students could use during their breaks, off periods, or off days. The computer area was also fitted with a printer the students could use.
The library contains all manner of books for any class the students might take. It also held many different study areas, including a quiet area near the back.

There are several events throughout the year that students can choose to attend. This included a medical imaging presentation, a play, and a university tour in my first year.

Mental illness was overlooked and ignored by some teachers causing some students to drop out. Other teachers were more than accomodating though. Mental health facilities were advertised and provided to these students with little done about it in some cases.

Phil is the best teacher however the catering staff don’t care for human safety
Chicken balls

Love It!
Started a hairdressing course here 6 weeks ago and it is great! The staff are extremely kind and supportive, would gladly help you out if your not sure where you go. Tutors are there for you if you need to chat. If you're looking for a course for yourself or your child and you live in a nearby area, I would absolutely recommend "Chesterfield College"

I wish that I could give this zero stars but that's not an option. The building is modern and swanky looking so that's probably worth the one star to be fair but if you want an education in the health and social care field go elsewhere. I can't begin to describe how terrible the level 3 course has been so far. Not one student in my daughter's class passed their first assignment due to lack of support and information from the tutors and then they had to rewrite and resubmit their second assignment because they were given the wrong criteria. She has gone from being a distinction student at GCSE who won an award for highest attainment in the subject to not managing to pass an assignment in a matter of months. To be fair to the head of the course Adam, he has taken on board my feedback and apologised for what has occurred. He is also taking steps to address the issues however I fear that this is now too late. My daughter is demoralised and has applied to go back to her old school to attend sixth form next year. A waste of a valuable year. Honestly, it might not be cool to stay at school but if you want to do this course it's your best option.