Higher Education: online guide to higher education courses
Join a higher education course with City of Bristol College’s University Centre. Fuel your future.
On this page:
Overview
Our higher education provision has been developing great minds for over 15 years. We deliver higher education (HE) to full and part-time students each year.
Higher education with our University Centre offers something different to studying at a big university. Our class sizes are smaller, enabling us to offer individual support tailored to your needs, and we are very experienced in supporting students who are balancing work and study, or who have family or care responsibilities.
How to apply for a university-level course
- If you want to study a full-time course, you’ll need to apply through UCAS.
- If you want to study part-time, you can enquire through the course webpage to start your application.
Find out more on our dedicated webpage: How to apply for higher education and university-level courses.
Courses
Browse all higher education courses available at City of Bristol College’s University Centre
Degree top-up year courses
These level six degrees are attractive to employers and create the possibility of progression to a Master’s degree or a higher education equivalent.
Foundation degree courses
We joined forces with partner universities and employers to design our Foundation Degrees. Most can be studied full-time over two years and others are available part-time over three years.
Higher National Certificate (HNC) and Higher National Diploma (HND) courses
These higher-level vocational qualifications are valued by employers in their sectors.
They can be studied over one or two years and are an ideal choice for students seeking an affordable and relevant route to a degree or employment
Once you’ve completed your HND or HNC, you could top-up to a Foundation or Honours Degree. HNCs usually earn a minimum of 120 credits and for HNDs it’s 240 credits.
HN Flex courses
HN Flex courses are individual units which give the student a Certificate of Unit Credit, with the opportunity to progress onto a Higher National Certificate (HNC) or Higher National Diploma (HND). They are a good choice for students who may be unable to commit to a full qualification, or want to upskill on a short course to advance their professional development.
Other higher-level courses
We offer a wide range of industry-specific university-level courses. These include certificates, diplomas and foundation years.
Partnerships
We work in partnership with a number of local universities, including University of Plymouth, University of the West of England (UWE) and Bath Spa University. We also work alongside Pearson to deliver our Higher Nationals and HN Flex.
We’ve also established excellent relationships with major regional employers including University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, GKN, Airbus, Bristol Waste Company, Computershare and Unite Group PLC as well as a wide range of smaller industry companies and public service employers.
Facilities
Our higher education courses are delivered at a number of sites across the city: South Bristol Skills Academy, Ashley Down Centre, College Green Centre and the Advanced Engineering Centre at Parkway.
Our College Green Centre offers a wide range of digital facilities for specialist Creative and Media courses and our Advanced Engineering Centre at Parkway offers top-of-the-range facilities for engineering courses.
University Centre at Ashley Down
You can use the University Centre at Ashley Down to study and socialise. Resources include:
- Designated classrooms
- Student study spaces
- Dedicated computer rooms
- Drop-in computer room for personal study
- Breakout area with large TV screen, vending machines and sofas
- An area accessible only to HE students.
The University Centre is a great place to go to meet other higher education students. You will also have access to popular facilities like our study centres and food halls.
Study Centre and Library services
Each College Centre has a Study Centre where you can study, borrow books or print. During your HE and Study Centre Inductions, you will be shown how to use the Study Centre catalogue, reserve, borrow books and access online resources.
If you feel you need support finding resources or referencing, please contact your Study Centre to arrange a one-to-one session. You can check the opening times or contact them:
Email: studycentre@cityofbristol.ac.uk
College Green Study Centre: 0117 312 2718
Ashley Down Study Centre: 0117 312 5098
Parkway Study Centre: 0117 312 5918
South Bristol Skills Academy (SBSA) Study Centre: 0117 312 547
Financial, progression and wellbeing support
We offer a wide range of support to our higher education students.
Prospects and Target jobs are careers websites specifically for HE students and offer a platform for job search as well as advice for applying for jobs and attending interviews.
Career Coach is College resource that links job profiles to live data on current local vacancies and highlights the sector-specific (‘hard’) and general (‘soft’) skills that employers are currently looking for in each role. There’s also a tool for creating a CV.
Moodle Jobs Board has a diverse range of permanent and temporary jobs at local employers.
Find out more on our dedicated higher education support page.
Access and participation
At City of Bristol College’s University Centre, we aspire to increase the opportunity, aspirations and attainment of people from a diverse range of cultural and economic backgrounds.
Working with our partners from across the city, we will continuously develop good practices to provide a comprehensive programme of widening participation activity and support.
We believe that a socially and culturally diverse student body enriches the student experience for all.
Transparency Information
Please click here to view our most recent document detailing our Transparency Information.
The information published on this page shows:
The number of students who attained a particular degree or other academic award, or a particular level of such an award, on completion of their course with us.
It shows these numbers by reference to:
- The gender of the individuals to which they relate
- Their ethnicity
- Their socioeconomic background
