About Leicester Vaughan College

Leicester Vaughan College is an independent higher education college offering part-time courses at university-level. We provide higher education dedicated to the needs of part-time learners and to those wanting ‘a second chance’ to study.

Leicester Vaughan College is set up as a co-operative community benefit society to continue the work of the former Vaughan College. For more information about community benefit societies see here.

Part-time Courses for Adults

We offer part-time courses which are taught in a face-to-face or online setting outside traditional working hours of 9am to 5pm. Our courses are delivered either in evening classes on a weekly basis, or in workshops which take place on Saturdays.

Our face-to-face teaching takes place at the Leicester Adult Education College which is on Belvoir Street. We have also offered online courses during the pandemic social distancing restrictions.

Study at Leicester Vaughan College

Leicester Vaughan College currently has a non-accredited programme. We are working towards offering fully-accredited degrees in various forms of counselling and in arts, humanities and social sciences.

Our art and humanities non-accredited programme is open to anyone without any formal qualifications. Our courses are taught at Framework of Higher Education Qualification (FHEQ) levels 3 and 4, however we do not require students to have prior learning experience at this level.

FHEQ level 3 is the same level as an A Level, access course or level 3 diploma; level 4 is the equivalent of the first year of a degree or a level 4 diploma. For information about the Framework of Higher Education Qualification  levels see here.

Continuing Professional Development Workshops

We run continuing professional development workshops on counselling skills and on professional and personal well-being. Some of these workshops are open to a general audience and some are aimed at a more specialist audience who work in counselling and the caring professions. We also offer these workshops to organisations who wish to provide their staff with professional development.

Vaughan Open Research Forum

As part of our non-accredited programme, we run a series of free talks, workshops and interactive sessions which are open to anyone who is curious and wants to find out more. Themes for sessions relate to our core teaching topics, arts, humanities, social sciences and counselling, and also discuss adult education and co-operative issues.  The Forums take place on the second Thursday of the month. You can find our up-coming forums here.

Leicester Vaughan College Teaching Staff

Our tutors have substantial experience in teaching adult learners. This means they are sensitive to the particular needs of adult learners and many have been mature students themselves. At the same time, our tutors are also experts in their subject areas. Click here for more information about our staff.

Supporting Leicester and Leicestershire Communities

We want to ensure that our courses reflect the needs of local and regional communities. Our Higher Education (HE) counselling programme will be particularly important for counselling providers within the City and the region, as students will be expected to gain experience of counselling through placements with these organisations.

Supporting Our Staff

Leicester Vaughan College advocates secure working conditions and equitable pay for staff. It is structured to encourage co-operation among, and between staff, students and members of the Society in the development the College.  It operates on the principle that fair and supportive treatment of staff will also enhance the student experience.