Glasgow College offers quick courses to learn new skills

Lecturers at Glasgow Clyde College took over the city centre yesterday (7 June) as part of a campaign encouraging locals to challenge their current abilities and pick up new skills. Experts visited Central Station, Buchanan Street and George Square offering passersby 2-minute courses in British Sign Language (BSL), Spanish and embroidery to promote their Upskill classes.

The college offers over 80 of these courses across its three campuses in Langside, Cardonald and Anniesland, which are specifically designed for adults living busy lives. They range from a couple of days to a year as part-time, evening or distance learning where learners can gain new qualifications, improve job prospects or find new hobbies. These include businesses-related skills, childcare, fashion, engineering, health care, social care, beauty, hospitality and more.

Principal at Glasgow Clyde College, Jon Vincent, said: “As we get older, it can seem daunting when you’re faced with having to quickly pick up something new, whether that be learning how to use the latest IT system at work or even a bit of home DIY - we all know how frustrating it can be when it takes a while to get to grips with something.

“That’s why we’ve created a Skills Squad - a dedicated team of experts who will be on hand to teach Glaswegians genuinely useful information in minutes. From everyday know-how like understanding key phrases in BSL, to knowing how to customise your clothes to create your own fashion-forward looks, so many Glaswegians going to be upgrading their repertoire.

“Our UpSkill courses are all about equipping people with the right tools they need to feel confident, whatever the challenge. From book-keeping to hairdressing or, there really is something for everyone.”

The Scottish Government does offer a Part-Time Fee Grant to help pay tuition fees, though eligible contenders must be earning less than £25,000 a year and studying a course worth at least 30 credits.