Mrs Fox (Careers Officer)

We were delighted to welcome BGS alumna Alice Pinney (2018) who visited the school as part of National Apprenticeship Week. Alice gave an insightful presentation to Years 10 and 11 about the benefits of a degree apprenticeship, which she is undertaking, with Kier Group.

A degree apprenticeship is a great way to get a degree without the usual associated debt, but she also talked about the additional, possibly less obvious, benefits. She works alongside industry experts, who mentor her during the apprenticeship scheme. Only 6 months in she has lots of responsibility and is confident that once she graduates from her degree apprenticeship she will have an advantage over civil engineering graduates, who have had far less opportunities to put their academic learning into practice.

She emphasised the need to be an independent learner and that a degree apprenticeship is a partnership between you, the company and the university. Alice said: “Since leaving school I’ve undertaken a degree apprenticeship with Kier working as a civil engineer. It’s an amazing opportunity to study, apply my learning at the same time and graduate with an effective skill set.”