10 interesting things for new students at Ayrshire College

Welcome to Ayrshire College! Here’s a look at 10 things you may be unaware of when it comes to being a student with us.

1. Your student card gets you plenty of discounts. ‘Student discount’ is a much-loved phrase with our students, and with good reason. There are so many places offering discounts to students, from cinemas and restaurants to shopping, whether that’s online or in stores. There are plenty of online discount networks, like UNiDAYS and StudentBeans, plus some places don’t always advertise their discounts, so it’s worth asking before you purchase.

2. We can provide you with equipment. We’re aware that many students are accessing online lessons using their phones, computer, or tablet. We also know some students are not able to access this kind of technology, which is where our Digital Support Fund comes in. Over the past two years we’ve helped hundreds of our students out with the loan of a laptop, Chromebook, and Wi-Fi. Applications will open before the start of the term so keep an eye on your emails for more details.

3. There is 24/7 mental health support available. Everyone at the College can access free online mental health support at any time. We also have a Mental Health and Wellbeing Champion at each campus, as well as a Mental Health Liaison Officer who provides mental health support across all campuses. This officers aims to improve the knowledge of mental health issues in staff and students through workshops and class sessions.

4. We’re backing the national ‘end period poverty’ campaign. This is an important message for our female students: If you go into any public toilet at any of our campuses, you’ll see sanitary products are available for you to take - free of charge!

5. You can download an official Ayrshire College app from Google Play and the Apple Store. Once we give you your college email address and get your course information set up, you’ll be able to start using ‘My Ayrshire College’. This app – which is also available via your web browser – is a one-stop shop for everything you’ll need during your time with us. Your dashboard lets you access your email inbox, access your calendar, access myLearning, and see a full breakdown of your Ayrshire College attendance to make sure you are on track to meet bursary payment or course requirements.

6. Hair and beauty treatments are cheap, cheap, cheap (sometimes free!). We have salons across our campuses where students can choose from a wide range of beauty, nail, and hair treatments, as well as holistic therapies. It’s all supervised by fully qualified lecturers to ensure a high-quality service. You may also get lucky as our students often need volunteers at the last minute to help them with their coursework, in which case your treatment would be free. Just keep an eye on your email inbox throughout the year!

7. There are industry-standard training restaurants at Ayr and Kilmarnock. Prices start from £10 for an amazing three-course lunch, using high-quality, locally produced ingredients. Our restaurants help support our hospitality students gain experience in a real restaurant environment, and helping our customers enjoy great food. Win-win. Find out more about Ayr’s Westerly restaurant and Kilmarnock’s Salt & Barrel.

8. While there’s a pizza oven at the Kilwinning Campus. Yes, you heard me right. Our Kilwinning Refectory sells pizza fresh from a pizza oven. And yes, it’s delicious.

9. There were more than 12,000 students enrolled at Ayrshire College in 2022-23. One for the stats fans out there, here’s a quick breakdown to give you an idea of what to expect to see when you’re walking around campus. Last year the main age group studying here was 16-19 (39%). 

10. We help you get into university. For those who want to go onto university, of course. A lot of college courses perfectly equip you for entering the world of work as soon as you’re done here. However, some courses prepare you for the next step of your education journey: uni. We work in partnership with lots of universities to help make that transition as straightforward as possible, through what’s called articulation agreements. We have these in place with the likes of the University of the West of Scotland (UWS), the University of Strathclyde, and the Open University. These can typically be found on the ‘Go Anywhere’ section of our course information page. For example, completing this HND Acting and Performance course would help you get into Year 3 of the BA Performance degree course at UWS.