Information for Students

Lifelong Learning has become an increasingly important part of educational policy and provision in modern society. The centre is keen to support developments in this area, working with other university departments to promote flexible provision which will encourage students to engage in Lifelong Learning.

There are a number of way in which students may engage with CRLL:

Scottish Credit & Qualifications Framework (SCQF)

The university aims to provide flexible pathways into and through postgraduate programmes. Through the Credit Transfer and Recognition of Prior Informal Learning (RPL), we aim to provide opportunities for students to gain credit for appropriate prior learning. Details of arrangements for entry to specific programmes should be discussed directly with the appropriate admissions tutor.

GCU College Articulation Project Mentoring Scheme

Through this scheme, mentors are involved in providing support for students both pre-entry to GCU, at induction and also during their studies through a programme of weekly drop-in ‘surgeries’ The surgeries aim to help new students adapt to university by offering re-assurance, practical advice, informal support, and signposting to appropriate support services. New students can also e-mail the mentoring mailbase (mentors@gcal.ac.uk) with individual queries or to request a meeting with a mentor.

Postgraduate opportunities

The Centre welcomes students wishing to register for research degrees, including MPhil and PhDs. The university encourages students who wish to undertake postgraduate study in the field of lifelong learning which includes qualifications up to Prof Dip level, pleaase refer to the list of potential topic areas. These opportunities will be of particular interest to staff who are working in the field of lifelong learning in further education colleges, universities, training organisations, local enterprise companies and other organisations involved in the field of lifelong learning.

College on Campus

One of the Strategic Objectives of GGAP is to develop effective systems to provide pre-entry information, guidance and support which will ‘focus on developing a sense of belonging to, and engagement with the university prior to commencement to ease the transition process’ (GGAP 2009, 5), and the College on Campus initiative aims to achieve this.

College on Campus is a campus visit event for HN students which provides participants with an insight into life at university. Throughout the event students attend a lecture and seminar, learn about the degree programmes and support services available, and have the opportunity to meet with current students at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU). The event is themed and the lecture and seminars are based on one main theme. The theme for the pilot College on Campus was: ‘Big Brother is Watching – The Rise of Surveillance Society’.

In addition to providing pre-entry information, guidance and support , sense of belonging to, and engagement with the university prior to joining their courses, College on Campus also aims to allay any concerns that college students may have about making the transition to university and help them in their decision-making process.

The objectives of College on Campus are:

To help HN students make a positive and informed decision about whether to pursue their studies to degree-level at university;
To introduce students to life on a university campus;
To familiarise students with the teaching methods utilised at university;
To familiarise students with the support services available at university;
To provide college students the opportunity to meet with current university students to discuss life at university;
To provide students with the opportunity to meet with students from other colleges.

The Pilot

The pilot of College on Campus was held over two days in March 2010. We worked with two GCU schools on the pilot, namely the School of Law and Social Sciences and the School of Health and the event was attended by over one hundred students from seven of our partner colleges. Initial feedback from the pilot has been extremely positive and a report on the findings of the pilot event will be available for download shortly.

Contact Details

For further information contact:

Yvonne Wayne
Development Officer
0141 331 8520
collegeoncampus@gcu.ac.uk