APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN for college courses for Senior Phase pupils

Applications are now open for Senior Phase courses at UHI North, West and Hebrides, offering S4, S5 and S6 pupils more options to expand their subject choice while at school. And for the first time pupils in the Outer Hebrides at Castlebay, Sgoil Lionacleit, The Nicolson Institute and Sir E Scott High Schools will also have the opportunity to apply to study for qualifications delivered online in a virtual classroom with peers from schools across the Highland Council region.

By providing school pupils with a wider range of qualifications and subjects to choose from as part of their timetable in S4, S5 and S6, our Senior Phase offer gives pupils the skills, confidence and experience they need to take the next step towards further study or employment. 

UHI North, West and Hebrides offers a range of qualifications including Foundation Apprenticeships, Highers, degree modules, and vocational courses, with subjects ranging from aquaculture to cyber security and from hairdressing to humanities.  

Delivered by college lecturers in partnership with Highland Council, each school has a tailored selection of courses to choose from. Some are delivered face to face on campus, or in school, and others are delivered online in a virtual classroom, with pupils joining peers from across the region to study.

The award-winning Virtual Schools timetable aligns with the Highland Council options form which pupils use to pick their subject choices, ensuring full access to all senior phase pupils in the Highland Council region.

The college also provide learning and progression opportunities for home educated students.

Adam Robertson, who leads the Senior Phase programme at UHI North, West and Hebrides, said: “Our Senior Phase courses mean that young people have more options to achieve valuable qualifications by studying with college whilst still at school.  The partnership we have with Highland Council, and our colleagues in UHI Inverness, provides a common timetable across Highland region to give pupils from even the smallest schools, as well as children that are home schooled, access to subjects such as Advanced Higher Computing.  We’re particularly proud of the range of vocational subjects such as the Foundations Apprenticeships giving pupils not only a valuable qualification but also helping them to gain work experience along the way.

This is also the first time we’ve been able to open up our wider senior phase offer to pupils in the Outer Hebrides, and we hope it will provide greater choice and opportunity to those pupils.” 

Antonio Demirev started his Senior Phase studies with National 5 Business Management, then progressed onto the Foundational Apprenticeship in Business Skills.  He is now studying International Business with Chinese at the University of Edinburgh.

Antonio, a former pupil of Kichuimen Academy in Fort Augustus, said: “Knowing I had no opportunity to study business in my school, I was very committed to making the most of online learning and it paid off.  The online learning environment is not too different from in-person learning in my experience; you get the same information and for some people it may even be easier to ask questions since everything is online.

Studying both National 5 Business Management in S4 and then the Foundation Apprenticeship in Business Skills in S6 online with the college definitely helped me decide that I want to pursue a career in business. There was only one way of finding out whether I am interested in a career in business and that was to give it a try while I was still in school.”

For more information and to explore Senior Phase courses starting in August 2025, visit UHI North, West and Hebrides- Schools.