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Derby College for Deaf People is a residential college with student accommodation both on and off campus. We provide a tutorial programme in the evening after daytime lectures have finished.

These consist of:

* One-to-one tutorials (either with course lecturer or CW or both)
* Group tutorials (small groups of deaf students and lecturer)
* Supported self study (advice given to aid self study)
* Private study (space is provided for students to work alone)

Tutorials take place in DCDP's Resource Centre. This is a well equipped building providing access to numerous computers and learning spaces. It is supervised by members of staff at all times and is an excellent learning environment. Occasionally tutorials are held in the mainstream college to supplement a student's daytime schedule.

Because DCDP is a residential college, we are able to provide a comprehensive tutorial programme on campus.

We tailor the programme to match the student's needs and emphasise the importance of tutorials by making them a compulsory part of the DCDP overall timetable.

The tutorial programme has developed over several years and is a well established part of the syllabus.

Who is involved in Tutorials?
The students at DCDP attend courses in the local sector colleges around the city. Some of the lecturers, who teach our students during the day, will provide tutorials in the evening. This is to reinforce the daytime study programme and ensure students fully understand the course content.

Communication Workers will also provide tutorial support. The aim of this is to explain assignments, technical language, or complicated text. The Communication service provided in each sector college during the day, extends to the evening tutorial programme.

As many tutorials are one-to-one they give the student the opportunity to ask questions they might not feel able to ask during the lecture.

Professionals who are involved in various tutorial activities are:

* Lecturers (both sector college and DCDP)
* Driving Instructors
* Financial Advisors
* Career and Higher Education Advisors

Further Opportunities
Whilst the main aim of the tutorial programme is to ensure that daytime studies are fully understood, they also present the opportunity to explore certain issues or interests in greater depth.

Many students take advantage of the extra educational time offered in the evening to improve their English and Maths skills.

This usually involves small group work where students can communicate freely with their peers, using their own choice of signed communication.

Students at DCDP spend the vast majority of their timetable at one of the local sector colleges. They have access to the communication service provided to enable them to participate in each lecture.

The additional opportunities offered by the tutorial programme allows them to interact in groups with other deaf students. This means they can experience the wider hearing community as well as a community of deaf people.

Further opportunities include:

* English
* Maths
* CACDP British Sign Language qualifications
* Presentation Skills Practice
* Driving Test Theory
* Study Skills
* Job Seeking

Tutorials in Context
Our continued aim is that students at DCDP have full access to the course of their choice. It is important to point out however, that the main language of education in the sector colleges is English.

Communication Workers provide access to as much of the course as is practically possible. They are committed to the idea that our students should integrate into the educational environment at all times, but concede that the tutorial programme is crucial in gauging the amount of information that has actually been understood.

* We recognise that students have to work very hard in order to achieve their qualifications.
* The tutorial programme provides all the necessary equipment and support to enable students to succeed.
* They are organised through a process of negotiation with the deaf student to ensure we meet their needs.
* They provide the necessary input to enable determined students to reach their potential.

The tutorial programme is an inclusive process negotiated between lecturer, student, Communication Worker and Senior Tutor with the collective aim of students successfully gaining qualifications.

Lecturers often agree that they too need extra time to check that deaf students understand the information disseminated as part of the course.

As the vast majority of lecturers are hearing people, we explain to them that many students at DCDP do not use English as their first language. We point out the particular demands this makes on our students and accordingly encourage lecturers to become part of the tutorial programme.

This also provides continuity for students. Furthermore, it is an opportunity for lecturers to develop a rounded picture of the way students live on campus.