Guidance and welfare

The Guidance and Welfare Service offers help and support to all students studying at The Manchester College. We give confidential and objective information, advice and guidance on courses, careers, student finance, welfare and personal matters. The Guidance and Welfare Service is accredited to the national ‘Matrix’ quality standard.
Members of the Guidance and Welfare Service are based at all of the main college centres. Team members also visit other college centres on a regular basis. For more information, contact reception or the main office at your centre.
Services we provide include:

  • help to choose the right course for you
  • help with welfare benefits, debt and immigration status for study
  • help with finances, where to live, personal support and part-time work
  • support with what to do after your course has finished, such as further study, training or jobs

To help you as much as possible, the staff in the Guidance and Welfare Service work with students in different ways, including:

  • booked appointments with specialist staff in area such as Benefits, Debt and Immigration
  • drop-in sessions for brief queries
  • email advice
  • group work with students on topics such as careers, going to university, student finance, using careers resources and job searching

To help with these, we have computer programs and resources which can be found in the college’s Library Resource Centres (LRCs), and which are targeted to meet students' needs at each centre. Guidance staff offering this support are qualified and experienced. They work in safe, friendly and welcoming settings.

To ensure that you are offered the best service, we ask you to give us accurate and up-to-date information about yourself. Sometimes we ask you to tell us what you think about the service we have provided. Everything you say is treated confidentially and can help us to improve the way we work in the future.

If you have any questions about student support, you can email

gaws@themanchestercollege.ac.uk

or you can call the site you wish to study, where you can book an appointment with the Guidance and Welfare Service.

Next Step at The Manchester College

The college’s Guidance & Welfare Service is now a provider of Next Step in Manchester - helping adults get the advice they need for future skills, careers, work and life choices.

Next Step aims to provide an integrated service to adults aged 19+ who want advice, guidance and support with careers planning and progression. Any adult can access this service and it is free to use.

Interviews are available at the following college sites:

Please call 0161 614 8416, to talk to an advisor or to book an interview.

Find out more about Next Step.