Being a 17 or 18-year-old applying for Apprenticeships while studying A Levels? It’s busy!! 📔 A Level / BTEC coursework 😬 Mock exams next week 🍔 Part-time job shifts to manage ⚽ Sports and hobbies for a bit of downtime 💻 And trying to apply for a bunch apprenticeships - without a fixed 'covers-all' deadline.

Between September and Christmas My Great First Job shared weekly curated resources with over a thousand 6th form teachers and careers leads. Here’s a snapshot of what we sent out.

This was Dale's first visit to Chalk Hills Academy, kicking off some work with their Sixth Form students who are exploring Degree Apprenticeships. 🎓 It began with a presentation for Year 12, followed by a similar session with Year 13. A particular highlight was having two ‘live’ actual Degree Apprenticeship offer-holders in the room! Huge congratulations to those Chalk Hill students who have already secured places with Forvis Mazars and Grant Thornton 👏👏

But what is Project 13? Project 13 is a Higher and Degree Apprenticeship 🎓 Application Mentoring Programme running in 20 schools across Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire….with support from Uni Connect organisation Aspire Higher.

Dale had a fantastic visit to Bedford Modern School to run an 'Application 101' session on applying for Degree Apprenticeships - covering CV essentials, building a strong personal brand, and how to prepare for interviews.

Session 1 kicked off in the school’s stunning chapel with Personal Branding for Year 12 students. After lunch, we moved into 'Interview 101' for students exploring Degree Apprenticeships 🎓, before heading back to the Year 12s for an 'Introduction to LinkedIn.' We wrapped up the day with some dedicated 1-to-1 LinkedIn profile support, helping students put all the learning into action straight away.

This time of year, so much attention rightfully goes toward university applications… yet some Year 13 students pursuing Higher and Degree Apprenticeships can feel unseen. They need the same level of guidance, confidence-building, and practical tools – but budget constraints can make this difficult.