Students in Year 12 completed a three-day work experience placement as part of their Personal Development Programme.

Relevant work experience is increasingly viewed as an essential part of any good application for higher education and the world of work. For candidates equally good on paper, applying for courses or jobs, it could well be work experience which tips the balance in favour of one candidate over the other.

Students who plan to go into medicine, dentistry, teaching or veterinary science have already been advised to secure some form of regular work experience because of the importance given to this in university applications and interviews.

Year 12 student Myrtle Boadu, who is currently studying A’ Level Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Maths, completed her work experience placement at Thrapston pharmacy.

She said, ‘I had a wonderful time on my work placement at the pharmacy. I worked in the dispensary where I packaged lots of prescriptions, stored these on specifically labelled shelves, as well as putting away the incoming stock from deliveries. I also worked at the till, finding customers their prescriptions, and retrieving them for them.

'I learnt lots of valuable skills in customer service, such as talking confidently to customers and listening to any problems they’ve had with their health, which I would report back to the Pharmacist.

My work experience helped me realise the importance of organisation, especially in such a professional setting, as without the system put in place for prescriptions, the pharmacy would have been less efficient, which would reduce customer satisfaction.

'My aspirations are to study medicine at university and hopefully my work experience will help with my UCAS application and personal statement.’