Work Experience

Work experience is a fantastic opportunity to start to get an idea of possible careers and provides an unparalleled insight into the world of work.

It is also a chance for employers and businesses to benefit from new ways of thinking and fresh ideas from students. The work experience will also act as a talking point for university and job applications and CV’s.

Students are encouraged to seek as many relevant experiences and get a feel for what it would be like to work in that industry full time. Here are just some of the benefits of this:

Developing skills that can be applied in the classroom
Completing work tasks which help to build self-confidence
Enhances communication skills
Make connections with people for future employment
The opportunity to find out what is required to succeed in a particular industry
Details of work experience can be put on a resume/ personal statement for UCAS and a CV. (Employers are always looking for people with experience and good references so the more someone has, the better chances of finding work).

YEAR 9

Following the review of the Gatsby Benchmarks that outline what Careers provision in schools and colleges should look like in April 2026 we introduced a Work Shadow Day for year 9. This is in response to the new guidelines stipulating that students in key stage 3 should also be exposed to the world of work. Students in year 9 got to spend a day shadowing a parent/carer, extended family member or family friend in their workplace. Once students have arranged where they are going to spend their day we ask that a parent/carer completes our MS Form confirming where they are going and that they are happy for their young person to do this. For further information on the Year 9 Work Shadow Day, please contact:

Miss Penfold: k.penfold@st-anselms.org.uk

Mrs Williams: h.williams@st-anselms.org.uk

Year 9 Work Shadow Day Launch PowerPoint (Nov. 2025)

Year 9 Work Shadow Day Launch Letter (Nov. 2025)

Year 9 Work Shadow Day Log Book

YEAR 10
Year 10 is also a valuable time for young people to obtain work experience. Here at St. Anselm's Year 10 work experience happens at the end of term 6 in July. Students, with the help of Parents/Carers, will need to source their own placement/s and then pass the details of their placement to Mrs Williams via the MS Form they will have been sent the link for. Mrs Williams will then make contact with the employer to confirm the placement. For further information on Year 10 work experience, please contact:

Miss Penfold: k.penfold@st-anselms.org.uk

Mrs Williams: h.williams@st-anselms.org.uk

Year 10 Work Experience Launch PowerPoint (Nov. 2025)

Year 10 Work Experience Launch Letter (Nov. 2025)

Year 10 Work Experience Log Book

YEAR 12
Year 12 students are strongly encouraged to seek as many relevant experiences as possible to strengthen their university applications and CV’s. In addition to any ad hoc opportunities throughout the year, students are given an extended period of 10 days work experience at the end of Year 12. Letters are sent to every student’s home in December and students are advised to seek a placement early to ensure they find somewhere that will benefit their career aspirations.

Top tips for getting work experience

Start early and get out there - don't wait for family to sort it for you. If you know what you want to do have a look at companies that will offer the kind of placement you want. Some companies may only take one person at a time for work experience and if several schools in the area are all running work experience at the same time you will need to make sure you get in there first.

Don't give up - if you've sent out lots of emails to companies asking for work experience and heard nothing back don't give up. Companies can be very busy and receive 100s of work experience emails. It maybe your email hasn't been seen or been blocked by a firewall. If you don't hear anything back from them by email give them a call or go in and speak to them. It maybe that they will be able to direct you to the right person to talk to about work experience, give you a phone number or email address to contact the right person/team directly or they maybe so impressed with your persistence they ask you to come back for a chat and offer you work experience.

Don't worry if you can't find a placement in the job you want to do later on - getting work experience in the industry and role you want to eventually go into is the ideal. However it doesn't always work out that way. Some industries don't allow students to do work experience with them till a certain age, eg. the NHS. Don't despair. If this is the case think about the transferable skills you would need in your ideal role and then think about placements where you could develop these. Transferable skills are those skills that can be used in any job. For example, a Doctor would need to be good at communicating, working as part of a team, have a good work ethic and be reliable. A student who has aspirations to be a Doctor could do their work experience in a cafe where they can evidence how they had to communicate with lots of different people when taking orders. Worked as part of a team serving food, clearing tables and handling money. A good work ethic and reliability could be demonstrated by turning up on time, being smartly dressed and always being happy to help whilst on work experience.

Once you get a placement if you're unsure if it's the right one for you try to stick at it. Work experience is as much about learning what you don't want to do as much as what you do want to do. For example, a student wanted to be a vet and did work experience at a vets that dealt with horses. Whilst on placement she found out she was allergic to horse hair and realised that if she wanted to become a vet it would have to be one that didn't deal with horses. Whilst you may come away from your placement thinking you definitely don't want to go into that line of work or industry if you have shown willing, turned up on time and been helpful hopefully the company would be willing to give you a reference which could help you get a part time job or onto a training course you want to do. It may also mean that the company are willing to take future St. Anselm's students on work experience.

Success Stories

A student found a work experience with BAE Systems on their own and applied to take part. They were successful and spent at week at the Medway site where they took part in team building exercises, toured the site and visited the Simulator facility - March 2026

A student did so well on their work experience in year 10 that the company offered them an apprenticeship after their GCSEs - July 2025

A student did so well on their work experience that they were considering offering her a Saturday job - July 2025

Two students impressed so much on work experience that one was going to be invited back to volunteer with the charity he was doing work experience at and the other student offered a Saturday job - July 2024

A student who did work experience at a local Sports Centre impressed them so much that they have offered them a part time job when they turned 16 - July 2023

Quotes from Employers who have hosted a student from St. Anselm's

"Very perseverant, good with food and counting money. Takes the job seriously and is hard working"

"Very enthusiastic and happy to help with whatever was asked of her."

"Always smiling and interested."

"The children were keen to get to know her."

"Pleasure to have him here."

"Thank you for all your help this week! We couldn't have got all the jobs done without you!"

"We hope he will approach us again once he has completed his studying if he ever requires another placement!"

"...has been a delight to have ... this week. If in future he'd like to apply for a part time job we'd love to have him!"

"...has worked so well with all team members in different departments. Trustworthy, has always been on time, happy and we have given him a summer job - so that's how great he is!"

"She is polite, kind, reliable, helpful and a joy to be around. We wish her all the best and will keep her in mind for future jobs."

"Always a pleasure having pupils from St. Anselm's on work experience, they have always been an asset to yourselves and conducted themselves in a mature and polite manor."

Quotes from Parents about how their child got on at work experience

"...is very shy in most social situations so this was a real challenge for her. She went in with confidence and enjoyed the challenges it bought. She was able to ask questions when she wasn't sure of something. This is a big step for her. I am very proud of her." (Parent of a student who did work experience in retail)

"She came home full of enthusiasm and stories and appears to have been a natural in the role of 'teacher'! She was exhausted but had worked hard and it was an extremely valuable experience." (Parent of a student who did work experience in a primary school)

"He gained confidence and knowledge in fields he was not previously aware of such as cardiac rehab clinics." (Parent of a student who did work experience at a sport facility)

"The week helped her with her confidence and showed she was capable of doing things out of her comfort zone." (Parent of a student who did work experience in a primary school)

"He has become more focused and interested in his chosen career pathway and can't wait to progress further." (Parent of a student who did work experience at a legal practice)

"During the week he demonstrated full responsibility, independence and consistent effort....he has shown maturity in managing his time effectively and maintaining focus." (Parent of a student who did virtual work experience)

"It has shown her a good insight to daily life of a vet and a nursing team. She has very much enjoyed her time with them and has experienced and witnessed different jobs and operations. It really has been a great week for her." (Parent of a student who did work experience at a veterinary practice)

"He feels inspired for his future career as he considers to pursue his career in medicine" (Parent of a student who did virtual work experience)

Virtual Work Experience

For those students who maybe can't find a physical placement in the industry/role they are interested in or who, for various reasons, can't access a physical workplace there is virtual work experience. Virtual work experience can be accessed anywhere via a computer, tablet or phone and allows you to hear from people who work for a particular company or in a specific role as well as do some tasks that give you a taste for the work or skills you need. You often get a certificate at the end of completing the programme and you can talk about virtual work experience in any applications for future jobs/education/training courses. Below are some links to websites that provide virtual work experience:

Futures for All - have a look at not only their wide range of work experience programmes (both in person and remote) but also their talks from different people across a wide range of industries and backgrounds.

Springpod (work experience) - have a look at the wide range of programmes on offer including some from household names like the NHS, Amazson, BBC, Met Office, Siemens and many more.

Springpod (subject spotlights) - wanted to know what it would be like to study a particular subject at university? Now you can find out. Have a look at the different subject spotlights on offer to learn what it might be like to study computing, law, journalism, medicine and much more at university.

ScreenSkills - wanted to know what it would be like to work in the Film or TV industry. Interested in the different roles available. Then have a look at ScreenSkills to see behind the scenes and learn about the different roles that go into the Film & TV industry.