Year 13 share work experience and career insights with fellow students
Work experience plays a vital role in helping our students prepare for careers and successful futures beyond St Mary's. By encouraging students to consider a wide range of professions and diverse career pathways, we enable them to make informed decisions about their futures, confirm their existing ambitions or explore new ideas.
At this time of year, our Year 13 students volunteer to share the insights they gained during their own work experience, at an in-school convention where questions and valuable experiences are shared. We know that this peer-to-peer exchange is highly effective, and it also gives our Year 13 students the opportunity to practice their presentation skills.
The variety of experience on offer was remarkable, with Year 13 having experienced medicine, law, education, research, technology and engineering, fashion, business and volunteering.
We caught up with two of our Year 13 students, listening in (with their permission) to their exchanges with curious students in Years 10 and 12.
Elena B. explained to her audience that, through her work experience, she saw what a 'proper working day' is like at the Cambridge University Hospitals campus, helping confirm that for her, a future in medicine is what she wants. Her choice of placement will also show future universities that she is serious about her application to study medicine. Skills such as critical thinking, teamworking, and the ability to empathise, she said, will be vital in her personal pursuit of a doctorate in radiology.
Avallon C. is considering the many options that are available in fashion. In discussing her practical experience, she was keen to emphasise that you need to build a portfolio, undertake projects, and always have something tangible to show. You also have to be confident in networking.
| Her current project is the promotion of her own style of close-up, high-speed racquet sport, with a new racquet design. The game is designed to stimulate the part of the brain (the cerebellum) which, unless kept active, can contribute to dementia in later years. With 10,000 of her 'Duel' racquets currently in production, Avallon is hoping that her 'play anywhere' Duel game will take off, with players being able to book a 15-minute burst with their nearest opponent via a phone app. |
The event was hugely successful: Years 10 and 12 were encouraged by speaking with older students and gained a clearer understanding of the value of work experience in planning their futures.
February 2026