HSDC Alton - Alton

Louis B

Not a good college, go elsewhere. For my first year of computer science my teacher Shan was not present for most lessons, and if he was present he wasn't engaging and just read off a power point. I believe the lack of teaching in first year lead to the grade I achieved. The Maths department is Alton's strong point, the teachers go out of their way to provide extra lessons during lunches. The Business department is okay, Chris is a really good teacher who is willing to learn the course. The prices that the college offers for food especially for the deli is extremely high so make sure you have enough money. Support from the college for UCAS was poor, it took endless amounts of chasing to get my UCAS submitted to university's. During results day the platform they used took 30 minutes to load to get my results. All round I would try other colleges such as Peter Symonds.

Ryan Barnes

I took geography, environmental science and criminology at a level at Alton college and I enjoyed my time there. The geography department was good despite there only being 1 teacher who was able to juggle both year 1 and year 2 classes as well as the multitude of day trips to London and the coast, Izzy wood (the teacher) also educated well on topics surrounding colonialism and did a good job at decolonising the curriculum both herself and using an array of guest speakers.
The environmental science department was also great they had more teachers who were all very friendly and chatty and the course was laid out clearly working through packs , each pack with its own topic/theme. On top of this we also had a few day trips in which we were able to experience fieldwork conducting experiments outside of the classroom setting. Lesley newel and Neil furlonger were fantastic and were able to juggle other commitments they had outside of environmental science such as year 1 and 2 biology classes and lessons in the Havant branch.
Criminology was a good course and furthered my understanding of the criminal system while also looking at real life case examples. Despite having to sit two 8 hour exams it was good and somewhat a more relaxed course than geography and environmental science so it was nice to have a break. Lucie jeanes was lovely also and was my personal tutor who helped with the writing of personal statements and applications to uni which is where I am now.

Emily Harris

Amazing geography department, lovely teachers across the school. Would definitely recommend. 10am start always a bonus.
Izzy (geography teacher) thank you for all your help and all the laughs.

Martyn Batten

As with most places staff are very nice and helpful to the students, but the level of support and teaching is poor. Lessons are frequently cancelled due to lack of staff, exams are mismanaged and the higher level management are full of promises that never get followed up.

My daughter is currently experiencing many issue with exams and we all wish she had chosen a different college. If you are considering this college for your child or you think this is where you want to study, be warned any positives you have heard about this college are greatly exaggerated.

Update after response:

As always the replies are standard, this review has been left after a year or more of contact with various admin and senior staff. My review stands , you have to shout the loudest to get things dealt with and since my review more lessons have been cancelled at very short notice.

Kat Holmes

Awful College, Rude teachers!
One teacher actually screamed at my daughter, he was never held accountable despite the complaints.
The email address underneath in the "reply" doesn't work and no one ever gets back to you.
We tried desperately to work with this awful college, but the emotional trauma it cause my daughter resulted in her dropping out entirely.
There are still a good number of kids we know still at the college and they have reported that things are still no better, no support to the point where they are going to drop out long before the term is over.
Really do not send your child to this college!

Loafis Cramwell

Do not go to this college. Complete disregard for students' well-being or ability to learn with bad quality rude teachers and an awful support system that makes your issues worse, or does nothing at all. half the rules for the college sound like they are just made to frustrate students with no propper reason to exist, students basically end up teaching themself the corses, as the teachers hinder you more than they help your learning

Anne Barratt

Got hate crimed by one of my teachers for having a disability and got treated differently to all the boys in my class (class of 2/3 girls and 3/4 boys) , when reported I was called a racist because my teacher happened to be black (I reported him as he compared my dyslexia to someone with 5th stage dementia, in fact called me "dumber" than someone with that). In the second year I was constantly refused my entitled lunch break. I lost all my friends and went down a huge spiral of depression. When my classmates were sick or bunking I would get lectured?! When I was genuinely sick and my parents put in an absence form, no one would authorise it. Working at a different college after being a student here I can tell you, that you can find so much better. If they had security, I NEVER saw them. However I want to mention, the counselors, reception and refectory staff are so, so lovely. I also made close connections to the 2 other girls in my class and that is the only thing I enjoyed about Alton

Sharon Hill

I have been incredibly disappointed with the level of support for the subjects my son studied. From tutors leaving, and tutor absences,
to not covering the whole curriculum and still being taught information whilst trying to revise, it has felt very patchy. A lack of consistency has made me feel that it let the children down for those subjects.