Shape of the week
Bristol-based students
Sunday: Students and their families worship at their local context church, where they are engaged in their church placement experience.
Monday: A study day, usually free from formal college commitments so that students can have the time to read, write, and reflect on what they’re learning.
Tuesday/Thursday: Weekday mornings we meet for Morning Prayer in the chapel. Our main lecture days are Tuesdays, with additional classes on Thursdays and Fridays, depending on the student’s study programme and particular module choices. Our School of Leadership meets on Thursday afternoons, as do the postgraduate research seminars.
Wednesday: Safeguarded for personal spiritual development, with set time for quiet, small group worship and support through tutor groups, as well as personal contemplation and prayer.
Friday: The day includes Communion together in the morning, before our ordinands meet in groups to discuss Anglican Story, Ethos and Practice. Independent students are invited to participate in a tutor-led independent reading group.
Context-based students
The shape of the week is very different for context-based students as you are based in your context church and a lot of your teaching is concentrated in block weeks.
The balance of context engagement and study is designed to facilitate a high quality rigorous academic programme integrated with contextual engagement. This is organised as
- Two-and-a-half days in personal study a week, plus half a day spent in seminars and with your pastoral group, accessed either in college or virtually.
- Two days plus Sundays in context inclusive of supervision time with your church supervisor. Clear expectations are given to supervisors in relation to your engagement in context.
- You have one day a week for rest from the programme.
In addition, as a context-based student, you will attend college for six block weeks during the academic year. You’ll stay in accommodation on-site, and will have your own room.
The first block week is in September, at the start of the academic year, and is a welcome week with some teaching. There are four other teaching block weeks. The sixth block week in May is a retreat/formation week.
Block weeks start at midday on Monday and end at lunchtime on Friday to give you time to travel and to keep Sundays free for your context commitments. During block weeks, we make time for reflection and build community within our context-based cohorts.
If you’re on Instagram, have a look at our context-based takeover in our highlights to get a flavour of what block weeks look like.
Programmes
Modes of Study
Come and visit us
The best way to find out if we’re the right fit for you is to come and visit us. We have several Open Days and Open Afternoons during the course of a year. If those dates don’t work for you, don’t worry – we can arrange for you to visit another time. We look forward to meeting you!