Why choose St Patrick's

There are several compelling reasons to consider joining St Patrick’s.

A few are listed below :

The high quality and excellence of our education

We provide high quality education in a caring and friendly environment. We have all the facilities one needs for an effective and enjoyable learning experience, which contributes to the success of our students.

Our academic teaching team at St Patrick’s, are leaders in their field. 20% hold Doctorates, and 10% have graduated from a top 10 UK University.  This indicates our commitment to ensuring our students are taught by only the best.

We take great pride in our high pass rates across all faculties and in the fact that our students choose to continue their academic progression with us.

Our accreditations & affiliations

We have an enviable array of accreditations and affiliations which provide us with guidance in  setting high standards in the delivery of authentic UK academic qualifications.

St Patrick’s International College is the first independent sector College in the UK to be undertaking the Integrated Quality and Enhancement Review (IQER) overseen by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, which is the UK government's body which administers quality assurance in education.  This  is a testament to our dedication to academic excellence.

http://www.qaa.ac.uk/news/media/pressreleases/220710.asp

Our University Partners : 

* The Guardian University league tables 2011 placed the Tourism Faculty and Business & Management Faculty of the University of Sunderland 2^nd and 14^th respectively in the national rankings.  St Patrick’s is also the only partner college approved to collaborate with University of Sunderland in Central London.

* Middlesex University, our partner for Fashion Design, was voted Best in London for Art & Design (2006). 

Meeting the needs of Industry and students

Teaching philosophy at St Patricks:

“We utilise real life experiences to bring alive the theoretical backgrounds and models necessary to understand current National and International agendas.

Classes are relatively small and this means that we know our students and can support them in their learning throughout their courses. Within the School you can progress from level to level whilst still maintaining the relationship you have developed with your lecturers which provides you with the stability and assurance that the School has your best interests at heart.

We utilise learning methods that build practical skills required in any workplace: team work, problem solving, independent learning and critical discussions”

Shirley Yearsley (Faculty of Health & Social Care)

Helping students to undertake the transition

• Helping students to undertake and transition from coursework-only courses to coursework + exam courses; this is typical in our undergraduate courses where students migrate from a coursework-based HND, through to a coursework + exam final year leading to a BSc or BA. This helps students build their confidence and improves their capabilities and performance.
• Multi-part pieces of coursework – where for given coursework, students have to complete each component part and this is marked and assessed by St. Patrick’s lecturers. The lecturers provide feedback on every part, identifying the students’ areas of strength and most importantly identifying what they should have done to get better grades. This enables the student to produce increasingly higher quality work and enhances their overall performance.

Our emphasis on providing students with industry-recognised qualifications, year on year:

A well known problem is the time wasted by students, including when they are unable to complete their course for legitimate reasons. Commonly, educational establishments provide credits for the time the student has been in attendance. For the student, taking these credits and attempting to use them for future admission at other educational establishments is often an arduous task. 'Course incompatibility', translation between different educational systems and ‘timeouts’ are common obstacles in this task often leading to the student having to start again.

To address this, St. Patrick’s has designed its courses, particularly undergraduate studies, such that students achieve bona fide (mapped to the British National Qualifications Framework) qualifications. Year 1 and 2 lead to HND and year 3 leads to the BA or BSc.

This framework caters for even those students who do have to leave prematurely, ensuring that they take away qualifications with them that are globally recognised and accepted. This effectively minimises their ‘wasted time’ and provides longer term cost-savings.

Course Fees

St. Patrick’s courses are priced below average relative to other educational establishments. Depending on the specific course, our prices for undergraduate study are approximately 50% cheaper. We achieve this without compromising the quality or excellence of the education offered. Specifically, we achieve this by focusing our resources into the important areas – the quality of our teaching staff, the learning facilities, the course material, the learning environment and facilities and the student performance improvement processes. Further, being an independent college, we are not compelled systemically to charge our students a high minimum charge.

Located in the heart of vibrant London

St Patrick's is located right in the heart of London's main shopping and entertainment centre, only a few steps away from Oxford Street. It is close to many major tourist attractions such as Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, Tower Bridge, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey. With everything from historic buildings and museums to modern day theatres and art galleries, it is one of the most popular tourist centres in the world. London is well known for its diversity of restaurants, from the traditional pub lunch to exotic Lebanese and Indian food. People who love to shop can visit department stores along Oxford Street and there are also street markets to visit. London has something for everyone – day or night.

Our students have every opportunity to make the most of their spare time by participating in extra-curricular activities.

In addition, St. Patrick’s also provides its students free access to International Students House (www.ish.org.uk) where they can join the Students Union and participate in sports and fitness activities and a full social programme of activities and visits.

The high quality of student welfare assistance we provide

Another reason for choosing St. Patrick’s is the support offered to students. This support comes firstly in the form of full time student officers who are dedicated to enhancing the quality of students' overall experience at the College, in matters including academic performance, leisure and recreation, tours and travel and counselling. The College also has staff who can provide accommodation services and other welfare assistance. The latter is available around the clock to cover for emergencies.