A day in the life

Every day begins at 08:40, where we will begin the day with a tutorial with our form groups until 09:00. On Mondays, the Principal holds a UTC briefing where she discusses upcoming events, what’s happened recently and certain topics.

The first lesson of the day begins at 09:00 and lasts for one hour, and is usually a core subject or may be our specialism, which, for me, is Computing. In Computing we usually continue working on assignments and projects, which go towards our BTEC final grade. From 11:00, we have a short break where food can be purchased from the canteen and we can sit with our friends in the Atrium.

Between break and lunch are two one-hour lessons. These are usually either English, Maths or Science, where we have continued to learn and revise topics for our GCSE exams.

Lunch is available from 13:15, where food is available again from the cafeteria within the UTC. All years groups are permitted to leave the UTC for the duration of lunch (45 minutes) to go into the Aylesbury town, in shops and outside the UTC grounds. We find that this provides a boost of energy for the last lessons of the day!

The two afternoon sessions can be either a core subject, GCSE option or specialism. In the option subject (which for me is Computer Science) we learn all relevant topics required for the final exams.

Occasionally, we have external visitors and employer partners visit the UTC. They hold talks with us, or start work on projects, and our day is split up differently because of this. Employer activities are very interactive and involved, with lots of opportunities for trips and work with the employers afterwards.

A basic day for me at the UTC starts by getting the bus into to college.

The day starts off with a morning briefing at 8:40am which is given by a teacher. They usually discuss important topics or upcoming events.

After this, we have lessons which are in hour blocks. This will usually include a lesson with a building studies teacher, it may be a theory or a practical session.

At 11:00am, we have a 15-minute break. As a year 12 I am allowed to go off-site, but as it’s usually raining I never go out!

Some of our lessons are replaced by independent study sessions where can go into computer rooms and get on with assignments or homework.

Lunch follows at 1:15pm. A privilege of being Year 12 and 13 is that I am allowed out to town. If I don’t fancy the food from the canteen, I will go to the local shop and get lunch from there.

We then have 3 hours of lessons, independent study or enrichment after lunch. Enrichment sessions could be sport or drawings. A few times a week I will have a study skills session, where a tutor helps you go through university applications and will prepare you for leaving The UTC.