Students blogs

Well, I am a construction professional; I have been in management roles for fifteen years. I guess, I am not the "stereotypical student” (if there is such a thing today!), in that I am in my thirties, well mid-thirties (just, without a grey hair in sight!) and fortunate enough to be involved in a modest sized construction practice.

The FdA Journalism course is brand new to City College, and I'm one of the lucky few students with a seat on its maiden voyage. So I thought it would be a good idea to post some feedback on the course thus far. I've attended a couple of other courses in the past, so I'm standing on solid ground when it comes to comparisons with other courses on offer. I'm certain the masterminds behind the introduction of the Journalism course are rather eager to know how their work-in-progress is coming along in its first ever semester.

Schools Minister Iain Wright relieved the fears of many this week by confirming that the Education Maintenance Allowance would be continued after the school leaving age is raised to 18. MPs are meeting in Westminster this week to discuss the future for EMA payments. It is four years since the scheme was first introduced; during which time it has not been without controversy or criticism.

The start of the last academic year was not pleasant for most due to the EMA debacle. Millions of students up and down the country were affected along with their families as a result of incompetence by the administering organisation Liberata. This was not a pleasant time it eventually lead to some students having to quit courses as they could not afford to come. This was fortunately not the case at City College; although our students were affected, luckily the College went the extra mile by loaning students the money they were not receiving.