Work Experience
The College offers Lower Sixth Form students a formal work experience programme, taking place in the Trinity Term following training sessions on ‘Post-18 Options and Introduction to Higher Education and UCAS’.
The programme is extremely beneficial in helping students to focus on their own choices and priorities, at the same time giving them confidence and independence. The experience of working teaches them to interact and take responsibility in an adult setting and it can fill them with enthusiasm and ambition for a particular profession (or, just as usefully, the opposite!). The experience is an advantageous addition to a UCAS application, and students generally report that it is one of the highlights of their year.
We are very grateful to the parents, alumni and other friends of the Columban community who assist in offering placements. We are always eager to follow up offers of help in this area: if you can provide appropriate work experience to a sixth-former for one week, we invite you to contact Mr Michael Wright, Head of Careers and Higher Education at wright.m@stcolumbascollege.org
In the summer of 2019, our work experience placements included:
- Completing the prestigious House of Lords Work Experience programme, which involved producing a draft Member’s Enquiry on the Hong Kong protests.
- Undertaking Diamonds Essential Training Programme with the De Beers Group in Botswana, experiencing diamond valuing.
- Working at the Big Four companies PWC and KPMG.
- Helping to coordinate an IMO conference, the United Nations’ only UK based organization.
- Working in a range of corporate services at Morgan Stanley.
