Alfa-college

Alfa-college is a regional vocational education centre, known in Dutch as an ROC, operating from four campuses: Groningen, Assen, Hoogeveen and Hardenberg. It describes itself as a Christian school and names connecting, trust and enterprise as its core values. Its main work is MBO vocational training at levels one to four for school leavers, together with VAVO, which lets adults finish secondary school qualifications, and part-time routes for people already in work. It says it shapes its training in cooperation with employers so that courses match what the regional labour market needs. A separate adult education branch teaches basic skills, including Dutch reading, writing and speaking, numeracy and computer use, in the city of Groningen and surrounding municipalities and in Hoogeveen and Hardenberg. It also teaches Dutch for speakers of other languages and delivers civic integration courses through the platform DNA Next. Its Voorbereidend Jaar is a bridging year in Groningen for people who arrived with a foreign qualification at roughly HAVO level four or above, with compulsory Dutch, English and civic studies plus subject electives, leading to admission at Hanzehogeschool or the University of Groningen. The central office is on Boumaboulevard in Groningen.