As part of ‘My Future Month’, the Careers Advice Team and the Business Growth Team have collaborated to deliver CareersFest!

CareersFest was held at the Winter Gardens Pavilion in Weston-super-Mare on the 7th March. The event was designed to help learners explore your potential career pathways, as well as considering their interests and skills. Approximately 1000 Weston College learners and 400 school students were welcomed for our biggest ever Careers event!

The aim was to make learners aware of all their options for the future, including apprenticeships, higher education, and everything in between. Around fifty employers were also in attendance, to discuss the opportunities they could offer to the learners.

53 exhibitors had stalls around the venue, with representatives from each, excited to meet their potential employees, apprentices or university students. Employers who were in attendance included the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, EDF Energy, GKN Aerospace, the NHS and Jet2, as well as many more, with universities including UCW, Cardiff, Exeter, Gloucestershire and Falmouth there too.

Anna Holton, School Liaison & IAG Manager, commented on the success of the day: “We’re so thrilled at the outcome of our CareersFest 2023 event, where we were able to bring together both Weston College learners and school leavers to meet potential employers, universities and other future options! Here at Weston College, our mantra is ‘careers, not courses’, so ensuring our learners have opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations with these exhibitors is crucial. We've already had positive feedback from the exhibitors that attended and our learners about their experience yesterday. This event, held in National Careers Week kick starts a series of virtual Careers activities for our learners through our very own ‘My Future Month’. CareersFest is a positive way to start a Careers focussed month, we can’t wait to see where our learners’ journeys take them!”

If you would like to receive some advice on your future, you can contact the school advice team here!

Working with animals can be a dream for many people, and one way in which you can achieve this, to become a vet.

In the UK there are over 29,000 veterinary positions, with vets earning an average salary of £47,000 a year!

You might now be wondering how you can become a vet… we’ll tell you how.

In order to become a vet, you will need to complete a veterinary degree approved by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS).

Entry to these courses is highly competitive, so it is important that you stand out from the crowd, with great results and relevant work experience. Here are some of the options that you can take, to progress onto an approved degree.

Animal Management

Animal Management is perfect for animal lovers who want to develop their animal care skills to work in the industry.

Animal Management courses offer a balance of practical work and theory, that will provide you with the opportunity to work with a wide variety of animals. You will gain detailed academic knowledge and understanding of all aspects of animal science, management, behaviour and husbandry through theory-based and practical sessions.

You will also have the opportunity to gain valuable work experience, working with a local organisation to build your knowledge and practical skills.

Click here to view our Animal Management courses.

A Levels

A Levels are the most common route to university. They offer a more academic route, but thanks to our Career Excellence Hub, you will have unrivalled access to employers, where you can gain work experience, attend masterclasses and hear from industry insiders.

The subjects that universities will want you to study varies, but typically the science-related subjects are required.

Click here to view our A Level courses.

Access to Higher Education

Access to Higher Education (HE) is a great way for people over the age of 19 to gain the qualifications needed to progress on to a degree.

At Weston College, we offer an Access to HE Diploma in Animal Science, which is taught flexibly over 10 hours, per week.

The course is a great way to gain the qualifications needed for university and covers a wide range of topics, such as: zoo enclosure management, behaviour, exotic animal husbandry, vet nursing, welfare, conservation, behaviour, biology, chemistry.

All learners receive tutorial sessions and also complete independent study units in study skills sessions.

Click here to view the course details.

If you'd like to find out more about a career in animal management, come along to one of our open evenings and chat to the team, they will be more than happy to help!

The college works very closely with a huge range of businesses over North Somerset and there has been a strong link with Visit Somerset. As tourism remains the biggest employment sector for our coastal region, Visit Somerset have been hugely supportive of the college through engaging with many of our learners to provide work experience, apprenticeships, and even full-time employment. Maisy Hatcher, Social Media Manager, and Libby James, Digital Assistant, currently studying through Weston College on their Apprenticeship at Visit Somerset, took the opportunity to visit the college and gain further insight into the inner workings of education, and to collaborate with marketing to create content!

Toby Jones, Digital & Content Marketing Manager, and ex Weston College Apprentice took the opportunity to share his experience of the Visitor Economy through his role at Visit Somerset by delivering a industry led session with the current Travel and Tourism Students. The session covered sources of tourism for the region and invited conversation around looking at new ways to entice visitors to the region. Working in teams offered the opportunity for collaborative work with Toby.

It gave John Turner, CEO of Visit Somerset, the opportunity to pitch ideas to the students and challenge them to interview for work placement opportunities. Many businesses look for that extra pair of hands during the busiest periods and create a pipeline of potential employees. Visit Somerset will work with learners to introduce them to tourism businesses needing extra hands.

John commented, “Ensuring that we are giving the next generation every opportunity to succeed in this new world where everything is changing so fast, is core to Visit Somerset’s strategy. We believe that helping to empower students is crucial in their development, whilst giving them valuable vocational work experience. Business leaders have a duty to ensure either internally or externally they support younger cohorts all of which is hugely rewarding, whilst delivering better returns, morale, and customer service values”

Weston College’s mantra is ‘careers, not courses’ and working with John and the team on an exciting placement opportunity not only prepares them for working lives after college, but allow exploration of careers available post study. Gaining hands-on experience through industry placements can enhance success in the job market.

Maisy and Libby will be looking to get involved with the students, and sharing their experience of their apprenticeship, by setting up a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style pitch for students. They will showcase the impact they have made at Visit Somerset through the three successful apprenticeships, and include how they are looking to support industry placements for 2023 and beyond.

"At Weston College, it is always a thrill to see Apprentices who are flourishing in their career journey, investing back and mentoring. It shows real growth and testament to the commitment to their apprenticeship" said Principal and CEO, Sir Paul Phillips. "We are thrilled that Visit Somerset will be able to offer and promote meaningful industry placement opportunities in the tourism sector, and we are confident that our students will thrive in these challenging and rewarding environments."

For more information about supporting an industry placement and what opportunities are available for your business through Weston College, please contact the Industry Placement team at workplacementteam@weston.ac.uk, or call 01934 411641.