Recommended IT Equipment
Please find below details of our recommendations for IT equipment you will need when studying at Long Road Sixth Form College. You can find a downloadable PDF copy at the bottom of this page.
If you have any additional questions not covered by these recommendations, please contact the IT Services Helpdesk.
Mobile phone
A personal mobile phone is required in order to study at Long Road. We use your mobile phone number to send you a text message with your initial login details, and your phone will also be used as the second factor when setting up Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on your Long Road account.
The minimum requirement is for a mobile phone that can receive SMS text messages. A smartphone such as an Android phone or Apple iPhone will provide a smoother one-touch MFA experience but is not a requirement.
Webcams
If you already have a computer, but it does not have a built-in webcam, you can purchase a webcam that plugs in to your computer via the USB port. Most USB webcams also contain a built-in microphone, so you won’t need to buy a microphone as well.
When picking out a webcam the main specification to check is the resolution. This might be expressed in different ways, for example an image width and height in pixels, or a number followed by the letter “p” that represents the image height in pixels. You should look for a camera that is at least 720p (1280x720 pixels) or better.
Example: The Logitech C270 webcam is a 720p webcam available from Argos at https://www.argos.co.uk/product/4034924 for £24.99.
Please Note: Long Road Sixth Form College does not endorse the above mentioned retailer or product or provide support for the product, the information is provided simply as an example of what to look for when purchasing. Prices were correct at the time of writing but may change over time.
Laptops
If you don’t already have a computer, or you have a computer, but it’s an older computer or is not quite up to the job of remote learning on the courses you are on, we suggest buying a laptop as this will have a built-in webcam and microphone for remote learning when self-isolating or in the event of a change in the COVID situation which might result in the college moving to remote learning.
Your choice of laptop may need to be tailored towards the types of courses you are on; students who are on Art, Computing, D&T, Film, Graphic Design, Media or Photography courses will need to look at higher performance machines which will be more expensive.
For the majority of courses, consider a laptop with these specifications (or better):
- Processor: Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3
- Memory: 8 gigabytes (GB)
- Storage: 256 gigabytes (GB) solid-state drive (SSD)
- Built-in webcam and microphone
- Operating system: Windows 10 or Windows 11
Example: The Lenovo IdeaPad 3i laptop from Currys at https://www.currys.co.uk/products/lenovo-ideapad-3i-14-laptop-intel-core-i5-256-gb-ssd-blue-10228900.html for £399.00.
For Art, Computing, D&T, Film, Graphic Design, Media or Photography courses, consider a laptop with these specifications (or better):
- Processor: Intel Core i5 11th or 12th generation, AMD Ryzen 5 5000-series or Ryzen 5 6000-series
- Memory: 16 gigabytes (GB)
- Storage: 512 gigabytes (GB) solid-state drive (SSD)
- Built-in webcam and microphone
- Operating system: Windows 10 or Windows 11
Example: The ACER Aspire 5 from Currys at https://www.currys.co.uk/products/acer-aspire-5-14-laptop-intel-core-i5-512-gb-ssd-grey-10238885.html for £699.00.
Please Note: Long Road Sixth Form College does not endorse the above-mentioned retailers or products or provide support for the products, the information is provided simply as an example of what to look for when purchasing. Prices were correct at the time of writing but may change over time. Retailer may periodically change the link so please check specifications before purchase.
Software
Other than Microsoft Windows, which should be included with the laptop, you should not need to purchase any additional software as most software needed for courses is either available FREE or is provided by the college to you FREE while you are a student at Long Road.
Please Note: if you have a Chromebook then you will not be able to take advantage of the full range of software listed here.
For all students:
Microsoft Office 365 (which includes Microsoft Teams) is available to download and install FREE by logging in to www.office.com with your college email address and password and clicking the “Install Office” button. Once the software is installed you can log in to it using your college email address and password.
You will need antivirus software installed on your new laptop. The college uses Sophos antivirus and Sophos produces a Home edition of their software which is available on a free trial at https://home.sophos.com/en-us.aspx by clicking the “Free Trial” button. A paid subscription allows your family to protect up to 10 devices.
For students on Art, Computing, D&T, Film, Graphic Design, Media or Photography courses:
You can access files stored on your college U: drive by installing the Foldr app, which is available FREE at https://foldr.io/products/foldr-for-files/microsoft-windows - the server name you will need to use with this app is foldr.longroad.ac.uk and you login using your college username and password.
Adobe Creative Cloud is available to download and install FREE for students on these courses, by logging in to https://creativecloud.adobe.com, choosing a “Company or School Account” and logging in with your college email address and password. You can then download and install the Creative Cloud App which will allow you to install Adobe software including Photoshop, Illustrator or Premiere Pro.
For students on Computing or Media courses:
For students on Computing or Media courses: Visual Studio 2022 is available in a FREE “Community” edition which you can download and install from https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/ by clicking the “Free download” button. As part of the Visual Studio installation you can also choose to install other tools you may need - such as Python or the Unity3D game development tools - at the same time as installing Visual Studio.
For students on Computing courses:
Visual Studio Code is available as a FREE download from https://code.visualstudio.com/ by clicking the “Download for Windows” button.
For students on D&T courses:
A student home edition of Techsoft Design V3 is available upon request from IT Support. Students on D&T courses should email itsupport@longroad.ac.uk from their college email account, and we can then provide the download details and activation key needed.
For students on D&T and Media courses:
Autodesk software products such as AutoCAD, Maya, Arnold, Mudbox and 3DS Max are available in a FREE 1-year license from Autodesk’s Education site at https://www.autodesk.com/education/edu-software/overview?sorting=featured&page=1. You can renew the license each year providing you are still a student at that time.
For students on Maths courses:
The Autograph 5 maths software is available as a FREE download from https://completemaths.com/autograph by clicking the “Download For Free” button.
For students on Languages & Media courses:
The Audacity audio software is available as a FREE download from https://www.audacityteam.org/ by clicking the “Download Audacity” button.
For students on Music courses:
The MuseScore music scoring software is available as a FREE download from https://musescore.org/en by clicking the “Free Download” button.
For students on Chemistry courses:
The ACD/ChemSketch software is available as a FREE download from https://www.acdlabs.com/resources/freeware/chemsketch/ by clicking the “Download Free Version” button.
