Help For Teens - Connexions County Durham

These are excellent ways to improve your application prospects by showing admissions tutors that you have relevant experience and gained useful insights.  It's also something you can talk about at selection interviews.

Some courses require students to be able to demonstrate particular skills e.g. medicine or teaching.  Others such as physiotherapy or veterinary science would be unlikely to take you without work experience.

Here are some suggestions:

Archaeology - go on archaeological digs, visit museums

Architecture - get work experience with a firm or architects, a construction company or local authority architects department

Business Studies/Management - do an Insight into Management course, attend Industry Days, shadow a manager

Computing - try to get experience using a wide range of computer programs, use the internet, get some work experience with a computing company or firm with a large computing department

Dentistry - shadow a dentist

Engineering - attend an engineering 'taster' course at a university, do a Women into Science and Engineering (WISE) course, girls can apply for an INSIGHT course, shadow a professional engineer, get involved with the Best Programme or find out if your school has a 'Young Engineers Club'

Environmental Science - do some voluntary work for the British Trust or Conservation Volunteers

History - join a local history society, get work experience or voluntary work with the National Trust, local museum or historic monument

Law - shadow a solicitor or barrister, visit courts

Media - write for your school or college magazine or start your own, visit local newspapers, radio and TV stations, work shadow a reporter or producer, volunteer for hospital radio

Medicine - shadow a family doctor, learn first aid, do voluntary work in a hospital or residential home for the elderly

Pharmacy - shadow a hospital or industrial pharmacist, get work experience as a sales assistant in a chemist's shop

Teaching - do voluntary work or work experience in a primary school, help at Sunday School, youth club or sports team.

Therapies - e.g. occupational therapy, orthopics, physiotherapy, radiography, speech therapy; it is essential to visit a hospital department and shadow a professional before applying for any of these courses

Veterinary Science - get work experience with large and small animals on a livestock farm, help at a cattery, kennels, stables, animal welfare organisation, shadow a vet

For more information click on the weblinks below.

Related Files

Work Experience/Work Shadowing (Printable Full Text)


External Links

British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV)

Do It!

The National Trust

Volunteering England

volunteering england

Women into Science, Engineering and Construction (WISE)

Young Engineers

Comment on this article