Further education united kingdom

Hopwood Hall

How Hopwood Hall Is Getting Every Learner Ready for the Real World

Three and a half years ago, Namaan Mohammed started with four headsets and a hunch. Today, Hopwood Hall College has two dedicated VR rooms, 60 headsets, and a platform woven into curriculum delivery across both campuses — with plans to roll it out to every Level 3 learner in the college.

further education AI Roleplay Employability Interview Preparation

Students using Bodyswaps with VR headsets

4 → 60

headsets from launch to today

dedicated VR rooms across both campuses

3.5

years of continuous use

86%

rating

About the Institution

About Hopwood Hall College

Hopwood Hall College is a further education college in Greater Manchester, with campuses in Middleton and Rochdale. It serves a wide range of learners — from school leavers on T-level and BTEC programmes, to adults returning to education after years away.

Namaan Mohammed is the college's Digital Learning Manager, leading on digital innovation, staff development, and immersive learning. When he first started exploring virtual reality at the college, he was looking for something practical, scalable, and affordable — experiences that would genuinely move the needle for learners.

THE CHALLENGE

Preparing Learners for Conversations You Can't Fake

Every course at Hopwood Hall includes a careers and employability unit. For years, the standard approach was familiar: help students build a CV, then book them in for a one-to-one practice interview with a member of the Curriculum team.

The problem was what that practice couldn't cover. Like many young people across the country, a lot of Hopwood Hall's learners struggle with interviews and difficult conversations and a single run-through with one person doesn't come close to replicating the pressure of a real panel interview. Getting three members of staff to sit down and run a panel session was rarely possible.

"Getting three staff to come and sit down and do an interview — everyone's very busy."

— Namaan Mohammed, Digital Learning Manager Institution, Hopwood Hall College

For students who'd never sat in front of a panel before, the first time they experienced that dynamic was often the real thing. They'd come back afterwards thrown — not expecting three people, not knowing how to read the room.

The careers team could offer practice and feedback, but there was a ceiling on how much preparation any one student could get, and on how realistic that preparation could feel.

Bodyswaps has demonstrated exceptional growth and impact, with student engagement increasing from 223 learners in 2023/24 to 681 in 2025/26 — a 205% overall increase.

THE TURNING POINT

Finding the Right Tool

Hopwood Hall introduced virtual reality three and a half years ago, starting small while exploring what was available. Namaan came across Bodyswaps through teacher forums while looking for immersive experiences that went beyond traditional simulations — something different from what the college had seen before.

What stood out wasn't just the scenarios on offer. It was how accessible the platform was — for tutors, for staff, and for learners.

"It was quite easy to use, which I thought was really helpful for someone starting off new."

— Namaan Mohammed, Digital Learning Manager Institution, Hopwood Hall College

Bodyswaps focused on the things Hopwood Hall learners most needed to practice: presentation skills and job interviews. The feedback was immediate and objective. And critically, students could repeat scenarios as many times as they wanted, without needing a member of staff in the room.

The college purchased the full library and got started.

The Solution

Built Into the Curriculum, Not Bolted On

From the beginning, Namaan was clear that Bodyswaps had to be more than a novelty. The technology would only matter if it was connected to what learners were actually studying, and supported by good teaching before and after each session.

The setup Hopwood Hall built reflects that thinking. Two dedicated VR rooms, one at each campus. A booking system for tutors. A consent process. A pre-session meeting where the tutor goes through the lesson plan and tries the relevant module themselves before bringing learners in. Tutor notes shared in advance so everyone knows what to expect.

Namaan is clear that the setup only works because it's treated as a teaching decision, not a tech booking. It's not just a case of sending students in and leaving them to it — tutors meet with his team beforehand, go through the lesson plan, and try the module themselves. Reflection time afterwards is built in.

"It's reflecting afterwards, meeting the tutor beforehand, aligning the pedagogy and the lesson plan with what you're doing in that session," he says. "That really helps."

— Namaan Mohammed, Digital Learning Manager Institution, Hopwood Hall College

The sessions themselves are deliberately compact — 15 to 20 minutes per module — and students can come back for extra practice independently, outside of their timetabled sessions. That flexibility has seen strong take-up from second-year students and those preparing for T-level placements.

The AI roleplay feature has changed what's possible for interview prep specifically. T-level learners preparing for placement interviews now arrive with actual job descriptions. Namaan's team generates customised role plays from those, so students are rehearsing questions they're genuinely likely to face. The avatars aren't uniform either — one is relaxed, one is neutral, one is tough — giving students the experience of a real panel dynamic before they ever sit in front of one.

"They won't experience it until they go out for an interview, and then they come back shocked — thinking, 'I didn't expect three people to interview me, just a work placement interview.' But now they can experience it beforehand."

— Namaan Mohammed, Digital Learning Manager Institution, Hopwood Hall College

Use cases

CAREERS & EMPLOYABILITY

Interview and CV preparation

Every course at Hopwood Hall includes a careers and employability unit. Bodyswaps replaced the single one-to-one practice interview with repeatable panel-style practice learners can return to as often as they need.

T-LEVEL PLACEMENTS

Customised interview roleplays

Learners preparing for placement interviews bring in real job descriptions, and Namaan's team builds custom AI roleplays around them — with relaxed, neutral, and tough avatars recreating a real panel dynamic.

PRESENTATION SKILLS

Public speaking practice

Learners work through presentation modules at their own pace, building the confidence to stand up in front of an audience — including adult returners tackling presentation units for the first time in years.

TUTORIAL PROGRAMME

College-wide rollout

From January, every Level 3 learner at the college will access the interview simulator or an AI roleplay through their tutorial programme — extending practice beyond pre-booked departments to the whole college.

The Results

Learners Who Are Ready

The shift in how students approach interviews has been noticeable. T-level learners who previously would have had a single careers team session are now going into placements having practiced the same scenarios multiple times, with feedback they've already acted on.

Namaan describes learners becoming "noticeably more confident" — more willing to practice, more engaged with the feedback they receive, and more able to identify what they actually need to work on.

"They're getting the feedback, they're understanding it, and then they're saying — right, these are weaknesses, we need to come and do this."

— Namaan Mohammed, Digital Learning Manager Institution, Hopwood Hall College

The individual stories make that concrete. One adult learner came back to education after around ten years away. They had to complete a presentation unit and found it almost impossible — breaking down at the thought of standing up in front of people. They spent three to four weeks working through Bodyswaps, going through the modules repeatedly.

"They came back really happy, really pleased," Namaan recalls. They passed the unit.

For students who already thought of themselves as confident communicators, the experience has been a different kind of useful — the objective feedback showing them things they hadn't noticed about how they actually come across, rather than how they assumed they did.

Staff have felt the impact too. With Bodyswaps handling the interview practice and generating the feedback, the workload on tutors running employability units has come down. The feedback students receive is consistent and documented — something a one-to-one role play with a busy tutor can't always guarantee.

Learner feedback remains highly positive, with 86% rating sessions as good or outstanding, reinforcing the platform’s value in delivering engaging, confidence-building immersive learning experiences.

What's Next

Hopwood Hall is expanding how Bodyswaps fits into college life. From January to February, every Level 3 learner at the college will have access to the interview simulator or an AI roleplay as part of their tutorial programme — not just students whose curriculum teams have pre-booked sessions, but everyone.

"For the months of January to February, we're going to offer interviews to everybody. So long as I get a job description, my team will be setting up interviews and role plays for learners as part of their tutorial sessions."

— Namaan Mohammed, Digital Learning Manager, Hopwood Hall College

It's a meaningful expansion — from a tool used by certain departments to something every student at the college gets to experience before they leave.

"The ones who lacked confidence have gone away with high confidence. The ones who were pretty steady have gone away with new skills — they're ready to take ownership and tackle whatever they're going to tackle."

— Namaan Mohammed, Digital Learning Manager, Hopwood Hall College

Namaan Mohammed Digital Learning Manager, Hopwood Hall College

Leads digital innovation, staff development, and immersive learning across both college campuses
Introduced virtual reality at Hopwood Hall three and a half years ago, starting with four headsets
Grew the programme to 60 headsets and two dedicated VR rooms
Built the college's pre-session, consent, and reflection process that treats VR as a teaching decision, not a tech booking
Leading the college-wide rollout of Bodyswaps to every Level 3 learner through the tutorial programme