21 March 2025
What Open Day Visitors Usually Ask
The questions families and career changers raise when they walk the laboratories and seminar rooms.
Visitors almost always ask whether prior chemistry A-levels are enough. For the Laboratory Skills Intensive, yes. For the Process Design Certificate we look for algebra fluency and a STEM background; chemistry helps but is not the only path.
Parents ask about class size. Our design studios cap at sixteen so every learner presents work to faculty, not only to peers. Workshops on the pilot plant run even smaller for supervision ratios.
Career changers ask about evenings and travel. Short courses meet after work; the certificate runs daytime blocks with optional evening catch-up tutorials. We are based at 2 Glasshouse Gardens, with Stratford station a short walk away.
The question we welcome most is about seeing real equipment. Open days include a supervised walk past the distillation and heat-exchanger bays so the school feels like a place of practice, not only slides.