Former Brooke Weston Academy student, Amelia Duncan, paid a return visit to Brooke Weston as part of the Alumni National Apprenticeship Week. Amelia and fellow apprentice, Lauren Tooze, both from the Standard Chartered Bank in London, provided our sixth form students with an insight into current prestigious apprenticeship opportunities within the bank.

Amelia and Lauren started their apprenticeships at Standard Chartered Bank in July 2021 and have not looked back since. They are completing rotations across the different areas of the bank during the course of their apprenticeship, which will result in them securing a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level 1 qualification.

Year 12 student, Marvin Camara said, ‘The session was extremely insightful and it was very easy to relate to Amelia as she is from Corby and a former Brooke Weston student. It was the best session I have attended so far and has confirmed for me that I am 100% certain of taking the apprenticeship route as my next step.’

Year 13 Adwoa Abeka, who is a member of the Student Leadership team said, ‘This has definitely encouraged me to broaden my choices and to consider the possibility of an apprenticeship in finance. Amelia and Lauren were able to answer many of my questions that couldn’t be answered elsewhere.’

Post-16 Co-Curricular Coordinator, Louise Hegarty, said, ‘It was fantastic to have Amelia back with us along with her colleague Lauren. Our students have gained an excellent insight as to what she has been doing, skills developed and the expectations during the early stages of an apprenticeship. Amelia has proved to be a real inspiration for our current sixth formers through promoting apprenticeships in such an honest yet positive light. Some are now considering making apprenticeship applications following Amelia and Lauren’s insightful talk.’