Get Involved

We’re always looking for employers to come in to talk to students about their career pathways. We would like to invite you to come in and do just that.

We want to make every opportunity to learn available to our students, and we would like your help with this. We’re looking for employers to host talks with students about their career pathways, different routes into the industry, their own personal journeys and the various roles within the workplace, to inspire our tomorrow’s leaders to take charge of their futures early.

We’re also seeking organisations to run workshops on employability skills, for example; how to write a stand out CV and cover letter, interview and preparation and skills, and being prepared for the world of work.

Work Placements

Types of placement:

• Short term placement – Students typically are with the business for no more than a couple of days/weeks. This is a short introduction to the industry and they don’t tend to be more than half a term. Students do this in their own time one afternoon a week or a couple of full days. Some may be granted leave from studies for a full day providing they get approval from subject teachers based on their current performance within those lessons.

• Long term placement – Students embark on a placement typically over 50 hours. This would last more than one term and could be one afternoon/full day a week or more. This is a more in depth look into an industry/business where students will be expected to carry out and perform day to day tasks like any other employee whilst receiving training. Some subjects require students to embark on a long term placement to achieve anything from 150 – 300 hours of WEX as part of the course remit. There will be allowance in timetables of those students for full weeks Mon-Fri 9-5 for a placement.

• Internship – Can be paid or unpaid. These tend to be geared towards the higher calibre applicants.  Usually last around one to three months. This is a more in depth type of placement where an employer will hire a potential future employee (intern). Due to the commitments needed for an internship these are usually outside of college hours or term dates.

If you would like to come in and share your experience and knowledge with our students or you are interested in offering a work placement, please contact our Futures Team.

What is VWEX?

With physical meetings, events and work experience being now almost impossible, there has recently been a huge increase in the provision of VWEX – virtual work experience. These can be anything to a half-day session to gain an insight into a company and/or industry, or a longer programme lasting a week or two where students really get involved.

A typical example: an employer puts together a project for students to work on, usually in groups, with support from the employer in meetings throughout the programme. In addition, students could meet with several employees during the week and learn more about their roles, what they involve and the routes into those roles.

There are many platforms offering VWEX, and we have partnered with several – Uptree, Speakers For Schools, InvestIn, SpringPod and Career Ready to bring a variety of opportunities to our students. Please get in touch if this is something you’d like more details on; we