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Preparing for College

The simple steps to joining our college community

There are several key stages to joining our college community. Here’s our guide to what you should be doing and when:

HSDC offer Taster Days to Year 10 students, this is the perfect opportunity to visit the College and experience taster sessions in the subjects you may want to study when you leave school. You’ll also get a chance to meet our lecturers and familiarise yourself with the campus you will be studying at.

Students will have the option to experience either:

A Level subjects
A Level students will choose three subjects and spend the day at our Havant or Alton Campus (up to you!)

OR

Vocational subjects
Vocational students will pick one curriculum area and will spend the day at our South Downs or Alton Campus (up to you!)

We work with local schools to arrange Taster Days, however, if your school is not booked on and you would like to find out how to take part please email school.liaison@hsdc.ac.uk.

It might feel like it’s too early to start looking at colleges, but the earlier you start the more time you have to make a decision. There are plenty of ways to research what studying at HSDC is like. Take a look at our prospectus and browse our course finder for information on the range of courses and types of study available to you. If you want a preview of college life you can also follow us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.

We’ll also be visiting a number of schools so you might see us in assemblies, careers fairs or holding lunchtime stands. This is the perfect opportunity to speak to someone face-to-face and ask any questions you have about studying at HSDC.

Open events are a great opportunity to get a feel of what college life is like.  You’ll have a chance to explore the campus you’ll be studying at, chat to our staff and students and find out more about the full time courses we have on offer! You can view our upcoming open events in our calendar.

Ready to make your application?
There’s no need to wait for your GCSE results, you can apply as early as October! If you need help with your application, you can visit our page on how to apply. Even if you’re not 100% sure about your choice you can still submit an application, you’ll have the opportunity to talk about the course you’ve applied to and change your mind right up until you start.

Your Interview
Once we’ve received your application you’ll be invited to an interview. These are relatively informal and nothing to worry about, we’ll talk to you about why you applied to the course, what you’ve done so far and what you hope to achieve. You’ll also have the opportunity to ask questions about the course you have applied to.

Interviews are our way of making sure the course is right for you, helping you get the most out of your time at college. Once you have successfully completed your interview and a study programme has been agreed on you’ll receive you’ll be offered your place at HSDC. You can choose to confirm your place at the interview or send us your acceptance a few days later.

After you have accepted your place we’ll keep you up-to-date with all the latest news and events at the College.

Good luck!
Your GCSE exams kick off in May. HSDC regularly visits schools in Hampshire and surrounding areas to run revision sessions, so you might see us at your school.

Each year, our fantastic teaching team put together course-specific activities and resources that help prepare you for your course(s) that start in September. If you have applied to study at HSDC, you will receive communication about this work in June/July and you can go about completing the work at your leisure over the summer. It’s meant to get you excited to start your course and you will feel like you’re ready for Day 1!

The New Student Festival / Welcome day is the perfect opportunity to get to know other students who will be on your course. There will be a range of fun activities / information on offer over the lunch time, with free food and music.

Further details of the day will be announced closer to the date.

GCSE results day
This is when you’ll finally get your GCSE grades. If you’ve performed better or worse than you expected, we’ll be available to discuss any adjustments you need to make to your plans. 

Enrolment
Once you have confirmed your place with us, we’ll write to you over the summer to arrange your enrolment interview.

Need some help? Our advisors are here to help you

Contact us