Buckinghamshire College Group - Aylesbury Campus - Aylesbury

Emily T.

If I could give no stars I would. My son is on an NVQ level 3 course at the Wycombe campus. When we attended the open day we were told that as part of his course he would be sent on trips & placements. Neither have happened. A lot of the time the tutor doesn’t show up, so lessons are cancelled because there’s no cover teachers.

The finance department are an absolute joke - I had to wait till nearly Christmas to get a bursary in place, & now the one we have in place doesn’t even remotely cover what we have to spend on transport.

Don’t even get me started on the location of the campus & the fact that the new campus has been basically shelved (was meant to be opening last year, 2024, hasn’t even begun building yet). BCG don’t care about their students, they care about making money. This is privatised education in a nutshell. I’m hoping West Herts will be better for my younger child but I won’t hold my breath. Our children deserve better!

Nicola A.

I haven’t studied at this college myself, but one of my sons is. He’s quite happy there, but it’s an hours’ walk for him from home, so that’s 2 hours a day of walking there and back. This is his second year there and I’ve lost count of the amount of times he’s walked there and found out his classes have been cancelled. Normally it’s because the tutors are busy elsewhere, or because they decided to not turn up. He’s then wasted 2 hours of walking there and back for nothing! When he started at the college, I did inform them that he’s on a waiting list to be assessed for adhd and asd, therefore he might need a bit of extra support, or a quieter space to take exams, but nothing has been put in place for him sadly. He’s been struggling a lot and hasn’t had any support. The facilities at the college do seem quite good, hence why I’m giving them 2 stars, but the constant cancellation of classes is what lets the place down and no support in place for my son.

Jasper J.

I applied for a course in July and despite numerous communications heard nothing back until the week the course started. I found out that I didn’t meet the criteria, which I accept. However, I don’t appreciate that I am now unable to look at alternatives as I have missed September enrolment deadlines. One consolation was the professionalism of Chryso the tutor I finally got to meet. Pity that the admin and enrolment teams hadn’t done their part.

Banner H.

Starting College can be a daunting experience. There is lots of information to take in, people to meet and a new building to find your way around in, so Andrei Barbanta, Vice President of ACS, the Aylesbury College Student Union, has put together a list of tips for new students, as well as some things he wished he knew when he joined the College!

The College building is huge, so to make it less intimidating why not go for a walk and explore? Have alook at the Fashion studio and Carpentry/Motor Vehicle/Plumbing workshops, it’sinteresting to see what your fellow students are up to and it helps you find your bearings!

Vaq K.

Terrible Recruitment Strategy, They interview and then decide never to get back to you.

It took many email to HR to actually get a response.

Forget course communication, Recruitment communication is non existent

A N. G. E. L. A.

As someone who has been a student here for 3 years , i would say this college has been a massive help of getting me this far in my life , i have been through soo much and i had lots of support with my decisions and i hope they continue supporting in my final year .

I would say now that i am in my final year and my teachers have changed , its been an stressful time for me and i love the help i get from student services

This college has been my home for three years after coming from secondary school , i been in the art and design and graphic design at college as an creative student , they really help you embrace your creative spirit and help you get better at things you think you are not good at , i am in extended graphic design Dipolma and i feel like my time at this college has been great , i have support and friends and made so many connections

The one thing i would say about this college is that they do switch teachers a lot but in my course it only happened in the end of last year and i achieved an merit for my FMP , i feel like with a bit more support .I could have achieved much higher with the teachers expectations but he felt like i was not good enough but i feel like the teachers should be more supportive and not telling their students that they are not going to get good grades because i did get a good grade when he thought i was going to get an referral , i think they need to try to push you further and help you gain an creative paths .

You have to try your best and you will succeed , and do not give up , i went through soo much and i am glad student services and some of my teachers helped me , there are good teachers at the college , it just takes time to find the right ones .

Art and design here was an amazing experience , i love the supportive teachers here and they helped me go through art and design even tho i felt it hard and haven,t done it much of it before , i feel like teachers that show you how to do things even if you are not good at the subject are the best teachers , i wouldn,t have gone in graphic design without the support from my art and design teacher and my other teachers

In the college , it matters on which course you done and which teachers you have , you will have a good time in good enviroment
you will get far in life with the proper support without it you will get nowwhere

Claire G.

I truly am amazed at how anyone ever gets on a course here!

Last year (2021) I applied for their Reflexology Diploma. Around two weeks before the course was due to start I received a phone call stating that the course would not be going ahead, due to low numbers.

I re-applied in May 2022 for the same course starting this September. Every few weeks I checked in with the college, as I still hadn't received a date for interview and I wanted to know if the course was running, otherwise I would look for an alternative course provider. They assured me that the course was running every time I spoke with them.

Around comes September. I suddenly receive an email to go and enrol, no interview required (odd!) So on the Saturday morning I drive the 40 min to Aylesbury, only to be told when I arrive that they don't think the course is running due to low numbers. I literally couldn't believe it at this point!

The Tutor that I met was lovely, and seemed "on the ball" - sadly I was mistaken. She asked me to drop her an email and that she would let me know within the next week or two whether the courses numbers had gone up so that it could run.

I got home, dropped her my email and reminded her who I was, for her to actually never respond. I sent another email a few days later- nothing. It's now been over 6 weeks since that "enrolment" date, and 4 weeks since I emailed.

I then got in touch again with admissions. They assured me my details would be passed onto the tutors and that they would contact me.

I heard nothing.

The place is an absolute joke! Very, very disappointed.

Luckily I have found a wonderful college to complete my training with.

Dominic A.

Overall, my time at Aylesbury college studying ICT was good. The program covered essential aspects well, and the faculty was supportive. Recommended for those seeking a foundation ICT education.