Some of our Year 13 students gained useful insights into their future career choices after spending part of their summer break on work placements.

Victoria Mann who is studying Maths, Physics and Geography, spent a 3-week placement at Western Bio Energy Ltd, in Port Talbot, South Wales. She said, ‘I would like to pursue a career in the biomass industry, and I was looking into renewable energy as a possible engineering job route for me to take in the future. I spent each day in a different role on the plant, ranging from checking lorries bringing wood onto the weighbridge and taking samples of the wood for testing, to looking at the financial side of the plant and going around the site looking for ways of improving the efficiency of the process. I also went on site visits and assisted with quantity surveying on future development sites. I thoroughly enjoyed my placement and have gained a better idea of what I want to do in the future.’

Michelle Mwarewangepo and Fabrianne Lamptey both had a week’s work placement in Cambridge in one of Savills Estate Agent office branches.

Michelle, who is currently studying Psychology, Politics and English Language said, ‘I have a keen interest in real estate as a potential career, so I wanted to be able to gain valuable experience and learn about this sector. We were able to interact with different members of the company and find out what the different branches of real estate entail. I was fortunate enough to leave the site a couple of times to view properties, and we were also given a group project and tasks which allowed me to branch out and make new connections.’

Fabrianne, who is studying Maths, Product Design and Geography, said, ‘I have an interest in Design within the housing industry and thought it would aid my decision in choosing a future career pathway. I shadowed different specialists within their departments for the first four days, including project management, residential and commercial sales, urban planning, and development. I enjoyed my time as I was able to see all the different roles while also networking and making connections in the industry that may be helpful to me in the future.’

Teodor Mariciuc, who is studying Biology, Geography and Business, spent a week with Unilever at their Colworth site over the summer, which involved developing his own flavour of iced tea with his group coming in first place following a presentation to management.

He said, ‘I chose Unilever for my placement as I’m interested in a career in Biological Sciences and wanted to expand my knowledge. The main project was to create a new Iced Tea. In groups of four we created our own flavour and packaging and then presented this to managers and directors known as the 'Colworth Dragons'. We also delved into ice cream formulation, engineering, packaging, safety, and the cobot (collaborative robots) lab and much more.’

Amy Bayliss, who is studying Biology, Chemistry and Psychology, spent 2 days at the University of Nottingham School of Medicine. She said, ‘I chose to undertake my work experience here as it is directly aligned with my interests and what I would like to do as a career in biological research. I was able to observe muscle contraction experiments surrounding ureter and bronchiole tissue and I also learnt about basic safety and regulations within biological experiments, like using Krebs solution to preserve living tissues. I very much enjoyed the experience as I now have a better understanding of laboratories and how they work and reinforced this as what I want to do for the future.