6th Formers given advice on their futures

Context and challenges

Raising aspirations and generating interest in finding out about higher education and students futures has been an important focus for us this year. Students have received an abundance of accurate and invaluable information regarding their options, higher education and the issues surrounding the topic. This has been made available to them through presentations, workshops, mentoring schemes, specialist advice and conventions.

Talks

We welcomed staff from Oxford Brookes University who delivered a presentation on applying to university, writing personal statements and student finance, which was later supported by the Oxford Brookes Student Finance Bus who gave additional facts on fees and finance. A speaker from PUSH (the leading independent guide to UK universities) also visited the academy to give a humorous and engaging talk on what life at university is really like.

Mentoring

Our partnership with Oxford Brookes University has given 6^th formers the support and encouragement they need from undergraduate volunteers from the university.

Advice and Guidance

6^th formers have access to specialist HE and Careers guidance and have the opportunity to speak with a Connexions Personal Adviser who can help them further.

University visits and taster days

We attend subject conferences at Oxford Brookes University and Higher Education Awareness Days at Bucks New University which focus on the areas related to students BTEC courses.

We also encourage Year 12 students to attend the University of Reading for a Higher Education convention.

These events have proved popular as they are interactive and give students a realistic insight into university life.

CV writing, job applications and interview advice

All our sixth formers will shortly be going to Careers Fest, a city-wide careers convention which aims to help young people to start thinking about their future career and gives them the opportunity to network with local employers and gather information about careers that interest them.