Forth Valley College supported the first ever #ChooseCollege Virtual Showcase, on Wednesday 26 May, which attracted hundreds of potential new students to further education.
The free exhibition and information event saw nearly every college in Scotland come together on one virtual platform to showcase their courses and share information about college life. FVC also highlighted what’s on offer at their three campuses in Falkirk, Stirling and Alloa, with their very own specific stand and speaker session, built into the programme.
Organised by the CDN Marketing and Communications Network, the Choose College Virtual Showcase was designed to inspire and engage prospective students, as well as anyone who was interested in finding out more about studying at a college in Scotland. It also proved to be an ideal inspiration for those looking to upskill or retrain, if their working lives have been affected by the pandemic lockdown and nearly 400 people registered to participate in the event.
The Virtual Showcase also provided an excellent opportunity for parents, carers, teachers, and careers advisers to ask as many questions as they liked about life at college – from the comfort of their own homes. Attendees were able to visit the virtual college exhibition stands, learn about college courses, progression routes, careers, apprenticeships, college life, and speak to college staff to find out about the wellbeing and support services in place to assist learners. Seminar sessions included keynote speakers from colleges – and delegates chose which session was most relevant to them.
Dr Ken Thomson, FVC Principal, said: “Anyone visiting our stand found materials on our apprenticeships, full-time courses, training, degrees, evening courses, schools partnership courses, flexi learning and much more and were even inspired by what our alumni on what they have to say about how Forth Valley College benefited them on their career path.
“As you would expect there was plenty of information available on the very important aspects of college life, such as student support, student funding, the student association, campus life and learning resources, all of which we are very proud of.
“The Virtual Showcase offered a fantastic opportunity for people to find out about the different options available to them and we have been delighted to hear from potential all the students interested in our dynamic range of courses.”
FVC Learner Advisors were also on hand at the event to answer any questions those registering may have had, and a specific FVC session was delivered online at the event. Additionally the College launched their exciting range of evening courses at the showcase – something which attracted interest from several parents or guardians of potential full-time students.
The event follows on from the recent #ChooseCollege campaign, which saw Scotland’s colleges come together to share positive stories about how vital colleges are to the educational, economic and community health of the country. The six-week campaign reached over 8.8 million people on social media.
