25 June 2026
Mrs Janet Travis, Director of Higher Education and Careers
Students in Years 8, 10 and Lower Sixth have enjoyed taking part in careers and higher education activities over the past few weeks.
Immediately after their exams, Lower Sixth students attended our Higher Education Conference, where they began the process of completing their UCAS applications, along with initial drafts of their personal statements. They also heard from a wide range of speakers, who provided information on the UCAS process, gap years, students finance and degree apprenticeships, the latter presented by alumna Winifred (Class of 2019). We also welcomed back to Woldingham four alumnae from the Class of 2025, Jessica, Feranmi, Anjali and Onome, who shared their experiences as first year university undergraduates. They answered questions on a variety of topics, including how to make the most of the university experience, how to get support from staff, accommodation, and clubs and societies. The Lower Sixth really enjoyed the Zoom call from Eloise, Class of 2023, who completed a gap year in Thailand, where she set up a health clinic in association with Médecins Sans Frontières, before working in childcare in Vietnam - quite the adventure! We have introduced a mock interview programme for Lower Sixth students and were delighted to welcome expert HR professional Elise Hunt, Class of 1994, to give the girls guidance on how to prepare for interviews, personal branding, and the current job market - including how AI might impact professions. The students are gaining very valuable experience from this process.
We are also holding a webinar for parents of Lower Sixth girls to provide them with detailed guidance about the higher education application process.
Students in Years 8 and 10 have also been busy looking to the future. Last week, Year 10 students took part in ‘Launch Pad’, an enterprise challenge run by the Young Enterprise Organisation, where students worked in teams on the early stages of launching a business and balancing a budget, as well as creating a brand identity and marketing strategy. Each group made a formal presentation showing their ideas. This was followed by the students completing the in depth Morrisby assessment, an evidence-based online career assessment that evaluates an individual’s aptitudes, interests, and personality to provide personalised career and study guidance. Year 10 also learnt about the careers of former students of Woldingham during a virtual careers panel. It was wonderful to hear about the wide variety of professions that our alumnae enter, and our students had lots of great questions to ask them.
This week, Year 8 students also enjoyed a careers panel where they met six former students and discovered the pathways that are open to them after A Levels. The main activity for Year 8 was a Young Enterprise workshop ‘Learn to Earn’, where they explored themes such as personal skills and talents, career choices, salaries, income tax, the cost of living, financial planning and budgeting. It was quite the shock for them to learn about ‘deductions’ from salaries, though a valuable lesson, of course.