Wirral Metropolitan College

Wirral Met College provides a variety of options for people wanting to develop new skills.

Whether lockdown has given you more spare time or you're looking to strengthen your CV and job prospects, now could be the ideal time to develop new skills. Enrolling on a course to build on your knowledge and experience doesn't have to dominate your days or be costly either, as Wirral Met College has an exciting range of online options available for free or for £30.

The selection of accredited online short courses can be completed from the comfort of your own home, giving you up to date insight that could benefit you in your job search or help prepare you for promotion opportunities in your current role. Each course is designed to add another string to your bow and take as little time as possible, with some just four-hours long, helping you reach the next step up the career ladder. There are more than 30 options to choose from, ranging from level 2 qualifications - equivalent to a GCSE - to professional development courses.

Study a level 2 course for free

The level 2 courses are free to Liverpool City Region residents aged 19+

Level 2 courses at Wirral Met College are free to anyone aged 19 or over who lives in the Liverpool City Region. and can be an ideal way to add some more skills and qualifications to your CV.

Anyone over the age of 19 who lives outside the city region may still qualify to enrol on them for free if they're unemployed/in receipt of eligible benefits, in work and earning less than £17,004 annual gross salary, or aged 19-23 and have not already achieved a full level 2 qualification. You can see if you are eligible for the free course on the Wirral Met College website or by calling 0151 551 7777.

Every course is completed online, allowing you to have the freedom to fit your learning around your personal life, and can be finished as quickly as you like provided it is within the correct time window.

Equivalent to GCSE grades nine to four or A* to C, the available level 2 course options include:

• Award in prevention and control of infection

• Certificate in awareness of mental health problems

• IT user skills certificate

• Event planning certificate

• Certificate in understanding specific learning difficulties

Each course is designed to help students develop their skills and gain new qualifications, along with the confidence to embark on a new career path. Students will have online support from a trainer/assessor who will provide guidance every step of the way. Similar to studying at a college campus, the assessor will mark all assessments and provide useful feedback. Anyone undertaking a level 2 course will have access to a portal of online resources to learn from and will be set assignments by tutors.

Short professional development courses

The online courses can fit around your schedule, If your time to study is limited, Wirral Met College's short professional development courses can help you refresh your skills, or gain the specific support or training you may need for a desired job or promotion. Taking only four hours to complete, the flexible courses are automatically assessed, marked and certificated online and cost £30. For employees looking to progress into a management role there are a variety of different options aimed at preparing you for your next step up the career ladder.

Short courses in leading and motivating a team, health and safety in the workplace or performance management could all be beneficial if you're already in employment. The courses can also provide valuable transferable skills to be used in roles that involve customer service, understanding anxiety and depression, and stress management. For employers, the college's short courses could also help any staff on furlough feel supported with training and development programmes.

You can find out Wirral Met College's wide range of level 2 and short professional development courses here. Preparing you for Jobs, Apprenticeships and University through a wide range of further and higher education courses.  Discover your future today!

To maintain social distancing, Wirral Met College will be supporting students with a blending learning approach, which will include practical sessions in College, online/remote learning from home including tutorials, resources on the student Virtual Campus, and bookable places in the College library for those students who do not have access to Wi-Fi at home.

Wirral Met College launches online courses to help people gain skills for a better future

Have you been furloughed, lost your job or decided it’s time to move on to a new career with better prospects? Do you work as a volunteer and would like to improve your skills to help others? Wirral Met College can offer you help. The College has launched a wide range of new online fully accredited courses that will help support you to retrain, gain new skills and build your confidence to get a new job or improve your career prospects.

Free* level 2 courses leading to qualifications linked to career routes are available. They include online support from a trainer/assessor who will guide you every step of the way, mark your assessments and give you feedback, similar to studying in college. You will have a window of time to complete your qualification but the benefits of studying online is that you’ll have the flexibility to fit your learning in around your life and home commitments; study when you want, progress as quickly as you want; you’re in control.

For example, if you want to work with children, or start a rewarding career in the care sector working with adults of all ages, you can develop your skills and gain qualifications by studying towards a level 2 qualification relating to challenging behaviour in children, specific learning difficulties, safeguarding, autism, providing information, advice and guidance, or the prevention and control of infection.

If time is limited and you’re looking for short professional development courses to refresh your skills and/or need specific support for your job role, there are flexible four hour courses which are automatically assessed online and certificated, costing as little as £30.

Perhaps you’re ready to progress into a management role, in which case you can select courses on leading and motivating a team or performance management. Excellent customer service is another option which will be beneficial to many different service sectors. With courses covering stress management, alcohol awareness, mental health awareness, understanding depression, understanding eating disorders and food safety, you’ll get valuable transferable skills that can be used in many different careers.

If you’re an employer with staff on furlough, then this is an ideal opportunity for you to support your employees with training and development, whilst they have the time to update their skills – and this can help improve your competitive edge when they return to work.

If you’re fed up with baking banana cake and you have time on your hands to start something new, then take a look at courses to help you keep your new year resolutions. For example, there are short courses on weight management, exercise and fitness and personal money management.

We all need a little help during lockdown, whatever our backgrounds. So let’s try something new, set ourselves an achievable challenge and feel good about achieving something positive.