The growth of the College in the last decade has been phenomenal, and the consequent addition of Hannah House, formerly the management training HQ of Marks and Spencer PLC, ensures that the students have a spacious and versatile learning environment.
Hannah House is home to a new library and learning resource centre, a thirty terminal internet cafe which boosts the college internet access to over 100 terminals, a subsidised restaurant, many more classrooms and, significantly, a new language school will allow the College to recruit students from countries whose citizens are not native speakers of English, by providing language training that can either be taken in advance of a degree programme or simultaneously.
With the twin sites being only a short walk apart it is easy for staff and students to move from one building to another, and with the contribution of the social, leisure and sporting facilities at International Students House and the residential accommodation of the London Hostel Association, the College is now able to offer its students an authentic inner-city 'on-campus' experience.
With over 1000 new students each year, mostly aged between 18 and 25, from over 100 countries around the world, West London College is a truly international environment.
The College welfare team devote much of their time to the care of overseas students who have recently arrived in London and are still finding their feet. All in all it is the continuous aim of the College to make its students feel at home, and to provide the pastoral and administrative support that will allow them to concentrate happily on their prime objective - to obtain a good education in London and an internationally recognised qualification to prove it.
Location & Facilities
West London College is accredited by the British Accreditation Council for Further and Higher Education (BAC) www.the-bac.org and officially licensed to offer the academic programmes of a number of British universities and examination boards. In addition, West London College has been awarded Premier Membership of Study UK, a status reserved only for those independent colleges that have successfully undertaken a full British university Quality Assurance inspection and been duly authorised to run British university degree programmes under official licence.
West London College is located in the Mayfair district of Westminster, one of the most affluent parts of the city. WLC's neighbours include Selfridges department store, which is opposite the College, the BBC, innumerable embassies, some of the world's most famous hotels, and of course Buckingham Palace!
Our second building, Hannah House, is located just off Baker Street, (the famous home of Sherlock Holmes!) and close by Madame Tussaud's museum. It is just eight minutes walk from our main building and five minutes from Baker Street 'tube' station Happiness is the key to success and the College welfare team work hard to ensure that students are comfortably accommodated and well looked after.
Many international students do not have friends or relatives with whom they can stay whilst they are studying in London and so it is important that the College is able to provide comfortable and reasonably priced hostel accommodation within easy travelling range of the campus.
The College welfare team devote much of their time to the care of overseas students who have recently arrived in London and are still finding their feet. It might mean helping a student to register with a doctor (overseas students are entitled to health care under the National Health Service), or finding an ethnic restaurant or a place of worship. Also, there will be times when a student needs official documents, to extend a student visa for example, or open a bank account. If this is the case the welfare team will happily help.