Essential Student Support

GCSE Exam Dates – Buxton Campus, Leek Campus and Derby Campus (Kedleston Road)

Thursday 16^th May 2024 – GCSE Maths Paper 1 (non-calculator) don’t forget your maths equipment – you are not allowed a calculator for this exam

Thursday 23^rd May 2024 – GCSE English Language Paper 1

Monday 3^rd June 2024 – GCSE Maths Paper 2 (Calculator) don’t forget your calculator and maths equipment

Thursday 6^th June 2024 – GCSE English Language Paper 2

Monday 10^th June 2024 – GCSE Maths Paper 3 (Calculator) don’t forget your calculator and maths equipment

For the Buxton and Leek Campus

If you are taking your GCSE with us,  all GCSE exams start at 9.30.am (please arrive at your exam room for 9.15.am). You will receive an email and SMS with your exam,  location,  dates, and room numbers closer to the time.

If you are unable to attend your exam for whatever reason please email ExamsAbsence@blc.ac.uk

The awarding bodies have collectively agreed a contingency day for several years now which is always scheduled at the end of the GCSE, GCE AS and A-level exam timetables.

The contingency day is in the event of national or significant local disruption to exams in the United Kingdom, being part of the awarding bodies’ standard contingency planning for exams.

Following the Covid-19 pandemic, further resilience was needed within the exam timetables. A single contingency day was not felt to be sufficient if a national event or incident had a significant effect on the exam timetable. For example, summer exams could be affected by extremely high temperatures.

For the June 2024 exams, the awarding bodies have therefore introduced two additional half-day contingency sessions. These are on Thursday 6th June – pm and Thursday 13th June – pm. The standard contingency day remains at the end of the timetable being scheduled on Wednesday 26th June – am and pm.

Colleges should ensure candidates and parents are aware of the contingency arrangements on these three days. They should consider the contingency day of Wednesday 26th June 2024 when making their plans for the summer. Candidates should be encouraged to remain available until Wednesday 26th June 2024 should examinations need to be rescheduled

If you’re feeling worried or anxious about your exam results, take a look at our Managing Worries about exam results information here to find some useful tips.

There are two types of Financial Support you may require as a learner at Buxton and Leek College.

Tuition Fees – Further Education Course

Understanding whether you need to pay for your course or qualify for a discount depends on various factors such as your age, residency status—whether you’re from the UK, the European Union (EU), or an international student—and other eligibility criteria.

Please check our webpage here which is dedicated to taking you through how it works: https://www.blc.ac.uk/financial-support/will-i-pay-course/

Funding towards additional course costs such as Transport, Meals, Kit, Uniform, DBS, Childcare etc.

Buxton and Leek College receives a limited allocation of government funds each year to distribute as Bursaries and the Free College Meals Scheme.

These funds help cover additional costs associated with participating in eligible Further Education programs that may otherwise hinder learners from attending.

Further Information:

Learners interested in Higher Education should refer to the University of Derby’s Undergraduate fees and finance page for information about university funding.

If you are considering an apprenticeship and are seeking information on available funding, please visit our apprenticeships funding page.

The Careers and Employment Service, along with the Work Experience Team, are here to help you. We have various online resources on the careers website that you can access to help you prepare for your future career and improve your employability.

We also offer personalised advice through one-on-one appointments, either online or in-person. You can book an appointment with a Careers Advisor or Career Coach to talk about planning your career, applying to university, writing your CV, preparing for interviews and exploring your options based on your qualifications.

Appointments are available between Monday to Friday 9am – 4pm (subject to availability).

You can book an appointment using this link www.dby.ac/blc-guidance or by calling 01332 591 316. Your Progress Coach can support you with this.

The Careers and Employment Service will continue to support you for up to 12 months after you’ve completed your course.

The Work Experience Team are available on to answer questions via placements@blc.ac.uk – Monday to Thursday 9am – 5pm and Friday 9am-4.30pm.

You can view our Library opening hours here.

Is the Library/HUB open for me to use?

The Devonshire Library and Leek HUB are open for students that want to browse our books or use a PC/study space. For information about our opening hours and to make a booking, please visit our website. If you need any help or support, please contact the Library on 01332 591215 or email us on library@derby.ac.uk

Do I need to return my Laptop?

As you will be studying on campus and at home, laptops that were loaned out in December/January will continue to renew automatically each week, unless you receive an email recall notice from the Library service. If you receive a recall notice from the Library service, please return your laptop to the Library/HUB. If you have any queries about your account, please contact the Library on 01332 591215 or email us on library@derby.ac.uk

You can find the Subject Guides via this link – look for your subject in the list.

Each Guide has information on using books and eBooks, using our search engine, Discover to find articles and more, and provides links to useful websites. There is also help with using Harvard referencing.

If you have further questions, there’s a web-chat icon in the bottom right corner of every Subject Guide page that students can click on and ask a question. You can also book places at Academic Librarian Clinics for specific queries (on the calendar, look for the ones called ‘Buxton and Leek students’).

You can take a look at our virtual tour here.

You can now also access our library FE subject guides by following this link https://libguides.derby.ac.uk/blc

Ingrid Keith is offering Chaplaincy support with Spiritual Well-Being and has found a helpful link for students to gain support too- https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mental-health/treatments-and-wellbeing/spirituality-and-mental-health

If you would like a confidential chat with a Chaplain, please email I.Keith@derby.ac.uk and a Teams call can be set up to talk about religion, spirituality or anything you are worried about during these uncertain times.