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Application Process

Application process

We are currently accepting applications for 2025 entry.

There are several important stages to admission into WQE and this section of our website will help you find the information you need quickly and easily.

We welcome applications from all students who and our proud of our diverse student community. We aim to help all prospective students make well-informed decisions, feel confident about course choices and navigate the admissions steps with ease.

View our prospectus
Admissions FAQs

Your route to WQE

01. Information and guidance

Through your school, you will receive information and guidance about the options available to you once you reach the age of 16. This may include visits or presentations from WQE colleagues.

02. Applications

To apply to study at WQE, use your school’s PS16 portal. If your school does not use PS16, you can access this and make your application directly to WQE via the PS16 portal.

Priority will be given to applications received by 31 January 2025.

03. Application Decisions

After the deadline date, we will review your application promptly and, if you’re suitably qualified, make you an offer. Students needing further guidance may be contacted by our Admissions Team. Students receiving an offer will be given a deadline to respond by.

04. Offer Holders Event: Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 March 2025

This is a great opportunity for you to talk to WQE subject staff, and agree your provisional programme of study

05. Welcome to WQE: Tuesday 24 June (Level 3 students)

Get to know us better and prepare for a successful start to your WQE journey. This is your chance to experience college life as a WQE student and explore activities in the courses you are planning to study here. You will be able to find out more about our wide range of Enrichment opportunities and become familiar with the resources, facilities and staff that will be available to you as a WQE student.

06. Enrolment begins

GCSE results will be released on Thursday 21 August 2025. Enrolment will start immediately after results are available.

Details regarding enrolment will be communicated to applicants who accept the offer of a place. During enrolment you’ll have access to advice and guidance that reflect your actual GCSE results to ensure that you enrol on the right courses for your future.

It will be essential that you are available at the start of and throughout this process in order to secure your place.

Admissions FAQs

To help you with your application we have collated some frequently asked questions and provided answers here.

Priority for places will be given to applicants who have made their application by 31 January 2025. If you are completing PS16, please pay careful attention to any internal deadlines set by your school to ensure that they can complete your reference and submit your application in good time.

Applications received after 31 January will be considered in strict order of receipt where the College has capacity and where there are exceptional circumstances disclosed.

After reviewing your application, if we consider that there are areas that require further exploration or clarification, we will usually contact you via email to outline the information that is needed. This will then be reviewed and usually a decision can be made. In some cases, a Guidance Meeting may be offered either in person or virtually.

Applicants who have clearly met the entry criteria in terms of their GCSE profile and positive reference will be automatically offered a place, usually without a guidance meeting. These applicants will be invited to an Offer Holders Event to discuss and agree their provisional study programme.

Yes! Your personal statement gives you the opportunity to tell us a bit more about yourself and allows you explain why you want to come to WQE.

Yes, absolutely! The College pays particular attention to attendance, punctuality, attitude to learning and potential for further study. We also expect to see a recommendation by your school for your chosen course.

After the deadline date, we will review your application promptly, and either make an offer or contact you to seek further information needed to enable us to make a decision regarding your application.

We will send you a letter in the post and a message on PS16. You will need to respond to the offer using the options on PS16.

You will choose your Enrichment course following the Welcome to WQE event in June. Take a look at our Enrichment options here.

Some of our students do study four A Levels but we do not generally recommend this. Universities normally only require you to have studied three A Levels (or equivalent).

Studying four (or equivalent) subjects provides a wider breadth of study for highly qualified students (including those enrolling for Further Mathematics) who may require this for very competitive courses at selective universities. However, by studying four subjects there is a risk of spreading yourself too thinly i.e. achieving four B grades instead of three A or A* grades. It would also remove the option of studying any additional subjects in Year 2, such as EPQ.

A final decision about the size of your programme can be made with the support of your Enrolment Advisor in August.

Offers made for a place at WQE are usually for a particular level rather than for a specific course or combination of courses. If you are planning to study A levels, most subjects will require you to achieve grade 4 or above in GCSE English Language. If you achieve grade 3 or lower, you will be able to speak to an Enrolment Advisor for further advice.

To enrol at the College, applicants must normally have achieved grades in line with their conditional offer. Your overall academic profile and any extenuating circumstances may also be considered. If your results mean that you are unable to enrol onto an advanced level programme, you will be offered advice and guidance regarding alternative pathways, this may include an Advanced Transition programme at WQE.

You are encouraged to research your subject choices when completing your application. Any offer is for a place at WQE at a particular level rather than for a specific course or combination of courses.

Many applicants revise subject choices before enrolment either as a result of further research or their achieved grades; this is often possible although some subjects may be oversubscribed and in these circumstances application choices will be taken into account.

Final course choices are made at enrolment in August; there is limited opportunity to change courses once teaching has started.

Timetables are unique to each student depending on the course they enrol for. You may be taught in any of the College’s buildings which all offer high quality teaching accommodation with specialist subject specific facilities and resources.

This is very unlikely, although we cannot make an absolute guarantee. We offer an exceptionally wide range of subjects, pathways and levels creating vast flexibility when it comes to timetabling; almost all combinations are possible.

Offer Holders for 2025 entry will have the opportunity to visit the College again at our Welcome to WQE Event in June.

Tours will be arranged for prospective students for 2026 entry who are unable to attend our Open Day. Details of these will be advertised on our website when available.

If you haven’t already done so, we recommend that you check out our virtual tour in the meantime here.

The College day starts at 9am and ends at 4:10pm. Students are not required to come into College if they do not have a lesson, therefore the times that you come into College will depend on your timetable. For example, if your first lesson of the day starts at 11:30am, you do not have to come into College until this lesson begins. You are able to leave College as soon as your last lesson of the day is finished.

Enrolment starts on Thursday 21 August 2024. Students are required to attend enrolment in person to have their place confirmed. Failure to do so will result in the offer of a place being removed and allocated to another student.

In the event of significant and extenuating circumstances students may be able to enrol remotely. Students must apply for remote enrolment to the Admissions team in writing at least two weeks prior to enrolment. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure they have an agreement in writing from the Admissions team stating they are enrolling remotely.

If extenuating circumstances occur within the two weeks prior to enrolment (preventing a student from attending), documentary evidence will be required and sent directly to Associate Principal (Students and Welfare), the student may be able to enrol remotely.

All students must be able to attend lessons in the first week of teaching otherwise they cannot be enrolled.

Our curriculum offer is the main strength that we believe differentiates WQE from other colleges. We offer the widest range of Level 3 courses locally and are proud of the flexibility we can offer – within a level of study, students can choose any combination of courses. This means that you can create an individual unrestricted programme which takes into account your past achievements, aptitudes, interests and ambitions for the future. In addition, students benefit from an inspiring learning environment with outstanding facilities, a comprehensive range of support and an excellent enrichment programme providing further opportunities outside of your academic programme.