The Henley College - Henley-on-Thames

Jessica Bray

I was a student here for two months. unfortunately i became very ill in the first couple of weeks with a chest infection that the college knew about. My mum emailed my teachers and the admissions team multiple times and was ignored she then received a phone call telling her my attendance was too low and that i had two weeks to push it up so i was at college on time everyday and then i randomly received an email in the middle of my maths class telling me i had been withdrawn it was only a week after my mum had received a phone call the attendance manager then assured me that there were many support opportunities that i can use even though i had been withdrawn i went onto campus only two days after i had been withdrawn and was escorted off not sure how to get this “support” without being on campus lol. All of my teachers were extremely unqualified my health and social care teacher originally being a nursery TA with some very questionable facts about health and social care all and all the college is crap and is made out to be fantastic and its really not

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I enjoyed going here. I live in Reading and I believe this is one of the best options in the area.

The staff were all very friendly and welcoming, and I had good relationships with a lot of them.

The standard of teaching was mixed, with me having some really good teachers and some really not so good ones. One teacher in particular was Jon who was extremely friendly and helpful, he would always go the extra mile to help students out, and I believe he is one of the best teachers in the country for maths.
Lisa Abraham, who is the careers advice lady, was also an amazingly friendly and helpful person - she was very professional and helped guide me through my options after college.

On the other hand, some of the staff were unfriendly and not bothered about the standards of learning in their classroom. One teacher for the whole of the second year would simply put a PowerPoint on the screen and tell the class to research into a given topic. For the rest of the lesson the entire class would always just chat to each other and go on their phones. The teacher would not intervene, and he would go on his phone himself and sometimes leave the classroom unannounced for long periods of time.
Another teacher was passive aggressive and although she attempted to teach the class, she taught in a way that was very very confusing and would go off on tangents about topics not relevant to the course. She would also pick on students for genuinely no reason and attempt to embarrass them in front of the class.

I enjoyed the flexibility with Henley college, in the first year I would usually be in 8-4 every day but I realised I actually didn’t need to be as my lessons had long gaps in between. This let me leave the house at 12 on some days and get there for my 1:30 lesson easily. Other days I’d have one lesson in the morning and was able to go home after 11 am which was nice.

Henley as a town is a very nice place. Although it is quite expensive, there are a lot of things for students to do: Costa, Starbucks, a skate park, a Wetherspoons, and pretty parts around the river.

The two campuses are vastly different. I was in both of them 50/50 for my classes.

Deanfield is an okay campus, although it felt quite dated in certain areas of it. They have refurbished one of the blocks since I was there however. One thing that annoyed me was how they got rid of an outdoors seating area that was used by students waiting to go home at the end of the day.

Rotherfield is a nice campus, it is at the top of a very long and steep hill which you should definitely take into consideration if you have mobility issues. It has a nice traditional feel to it, and the inside was modern. Some classrooms again felt quite dated though. Both campuses have canteens and the staff are friendly there, especially Orlando in Deanfield.

Overall I would give this college a marginal 4/5 stars. It is fundamentally a good college and whilst most of the staff were helpful and friendly, a few caused problems. A few bad staff is always inevitable at all schools though, so I couldn’t be too harsh. If you are considering Henley College I would recommend it overall.

Loubay Xx

I completed my level 2 childcare course at this college in 2015. It was one of the best years of my life. The teachers and staff are amazing and I made such a wonderful group of friends. I particularly loved spending my free periods in the canteen, the food was always great. It’s very well run. The teacher I had on my course, I believe her name was Tracy was absolutely fantastic. She did a great job at supporting me, I don’t think I’d of passed my course without her help. Highly recommend for anyone needing an NVQ or A levels.

Some Guy

As someone who studied through Henley college I can not advise against this school enough. In short, the faculty were rude, unhelpful and outright volatile toward myself. If you want the best from an institution that can support and help you find further education or potential work placements, this is NOT the place to go to.
I attended Henley college a while ago and only continued to study further at University recieving a BA in business marketing and management. When I attended this school I was originally quite introverted and shy. I wasn't the most social person but I had friends who followed from secondary school.
Within my second term of first year I began struggling with severe anxiety and depression. I wasn't in a good place, but I remember the college counsellor being helpful, attempting to guide me through speaking to my family about my mental health. Unfortunately I still struggled to open up to anyone, including my girlfriend, friends and family, mainly from my own self-esteem/embarrassment of the situation. Eventually I struggled attending college but actively made the effort to complete my first year.
I didn't receive the grades I was hoping for and upon attending a meeting with my mum about either retaking the year or switching courses the psychology tutor reviewing my situation told me to "take things seriously" and "stop letting my mum down". She made an effort to suggest I "found the situation funny". However at this point in my life I was heavily depressed, attending a GP privately for antidepressants and struggling to see a positive outlook on life. Furthermore, I wasn't allowed to redo 2 of my courses as the teachers refused to have me repeat the year. So was switched to a btec course and felt my life was continuing to fall apart.
By second year I had withdrawn completely from everyone around me and was now being verbally abused by a former friend. During the second term I was pulled out of class by a head of house and told to "stop harassing" this individual despite having no contact with them, and barely socialising with anyone of my friends for the past 3 months. I was made to feel like a pariah who avoided everyone but could somehow still harass others. I made the head of house aware of the situation but was still told what I was doing wasn't right and was dismissed after a scolding from someone who I can politely describe as severely ill-informed. To this day I do not know if there were repercussions for that individual but if I had to guess I'd say no, as I still received verbal abuse a few week later.
Shortly after this I dropped out of Henley college and after a few months of private counselling I attended a different six-form, who assisted me with my UCAS and supported me in attended a university within the top 10 for business marketing in the UK.
The memorises I have from this place are mainly negative ones with the exception of the school counsellor. I reached some incredibly low points in my life while attending this institute and the faculty made fit to exacerbate the situation. If you are thinking of applying to this college do so at your own risk. Upon being accepted by another college and a university outside of this place's influence, I can see the standard of this place is completely unacceptable for individuals facing mental health issues and struggling with work loads.
I wrote this review because to this day the place still haunts me and I wish I did not attend it.

David Dunford

My daughter has received a poor standard of teaching from HC. I would not recommend this as a place to educate children. For the first time a tutor has been employed to do the work where the college has failed.

Michael Howard-Sorrell

I spent 2 years studying here and it really does only deserve 3 stars. Whilst there are some dedicated members of staff who really do care about teaching, the majority have been worn down to uncaring shells of their former selves due to the relentless stream of awful students.

I did a level 3 BTEC in IT, and my overall grade was negatively impacted in part due to other students becoming a distraction, but also because 3 of the 5 teachers I had weren't particularly engaging or even friendly. However I did have a good time here, and managed to earn a decent qualification, as well as becoming a more sociable person.

emily moore

My daughter studied 3 A Levels at Henley College and did very well. Gaining entry to a Russel Group University.

Freya Ruparel

I am a current student at The Henley College. I have just completed my first year doing geography, philosophy and environmental science A levels. I have had a great experience so far as my teachers are good and supportive. I came from a school where you were spoonfed everything but Henley College gives you the independence, help and time for you to grow. It's a great stepping stone to university. I myself am applying to Cambridge and various Russell Group universities which I would not have considered doing before I came here. Student services are excellent and will will help you with anything you need as will the careers advisor. There are many enrichment opportunies and talks if you choose to participate. If you want to improve something at college you can as the adults will treat you like adults and not like children. I thoroughly reccomend applying here it has been a great experience.