Here I experienced what it would be like to work as a lab technician. Their role is to assist in practicals and work with scientific equipment to experiment and maintain the laboratories, making sure they are safe and fit for purpose. I was able to experience this while I was doing experiments as we always made sure that everything was clean and when we had finished, we cleaned and put everything away where it belongs.

I also experienced what it is like to be a university student studying there as we did some of the work that first year students do. An example of this is when we experimented glacial ice flow, as part of the environmental sciences part of work. To do this, you first make silly putty which represents the ice that flows through the valley. During the practical, we used a model of a mountainous range that the university students made. Putting the putty on peaks and seeing how it flows down demonstrates how glaciers act in real life. This was a great opportunity to demonstrate what undergraduates do in order to understand the natural things in the world and how this helps them with their studies.

My work experience placement allowed me to gain and develop many skills such as communication and problem-solving which I used when working in a group to conduct experiments. I also gained lab skills in safety as we learnt how practicals are carried out in a way that means they are safe, including wearing gloves and goggles when necessary. These are skills I can take with me to university and in my future career.

I enjoyed my work experience placement a lot and it was very beneficial to me. Above all, I learnt a lot of valuable skills, gained experience in laboratory work and became secure in my knowledge of what university life could be like for me.

Alice, Year 12

I completed this online experience because following Covid most hospitals were unable to take students on site due to the risk of further infection and transmission of the virus. As I want to be a Nurse, I had to look for other opportunities.

Observe GP is an alternative to work experience for any aspiring medics aged 16 and over, who are living in the UK. It is a free interactive video platform providing insights into the role of a GP and the wider primary care team. Even though I want to be a nurse and not a doctor, this was a really good experience because it allowed me to learn more about being part of a multidisciplinary care team. I also saw how each person in the NHS has a specific role and that communication is key in order to keep patients safe and well no matter what your job is.

The initiative requires students to complete and reflective diary as well which was really useful when I had university interviews. At my interviews they wanted to know that I had an understanding of what a career in nursing entailed. They also wanted to check that I had the right personality, skills and characteristics to become a nurse. Even though I couldn’t get into a hospital the universities were impressed that I was able to reflect on what I’d covered on the course and I could talk about it in detail. I was disappointed that I couldn’t get into a hospital but this was the next best thing during the pandemic because I learned more about the different roles in the NHS than I thought I would. It also helped me because I got all my offers back from my university choices and nursing is really competitive.

Leyla, Year 13

Working in a local pharmacy gave me a good closer look at how the healthcare sector works. I was able to see how the patient records go from the GP to the pharmacy, for example. This is something I’d not considered before. Seeing how much work the pharmacy does other than sell medication and healthcare to patients has given me a much greater understanding of what working in a pharmacy entails. As a community pharmacist the job is not just about making up prescriptions, it’s also about helping patients and the public, assessing their conditions and making decisions about which medicines they should take. I also observed the pharmacist offering patients advice and practical help about keeping healthy.

In addition to this face to face placement, I also completed the BSMS virtual work experience at the beginning of Year 12. As many hospitals were unable to accommodate student Post Covid, I thought this would be a helpful alternative. This course gave me a closer Insight to how the hospital operates on a day to day basis and I gained more information about the daily life of a doctor. I got to see how the patient and doctor interact; and how reassuring the doctor’s words are to a patient when they are nervous or frightened. It also illustrated to me how important communication is whether you are communicating to another member of staff, a patient or their family.

Both opportunities have been really helpful to me as they have reinforced my ambition to study medicine at university but being in a workplace and interacting with customers has allowed me to see the skills the pharmacist has in addition to the qualifications they needed.

Krishna, Year 12

I have already got experience volunteering in a primary school but I wanted to extend this further by working in a high school. I want to be a PE teacher when I leave school so I was really happy to be able to support the PE department for my placement this summer.

I already help out with after school clubs and activities but working as a teaching assistant with younger pupils has given me a better idea of the demands of the job. I have seen the work that goes into planning and delivering lessons and also with it being a practical subject how lessons have to be risk assessed to keep the students safe.

During my work experience I have set up lessons with equipment, helped to store equipment safely and seen how the teachers instruct and support students to achieve the lesson objective. Doing my work experience in school has made me more determined to be a PE teacher and it’s given me some of the skills I will need to do this such as communication, patience and being able to plan activities safely.

Lillie May, Yr 12