"I Got My Degree Apprenticeship"

“I just wanted to let you know that I got my Degree Apprenticeship 🎓!”

That message landed in Dale's LinkedIn inbox last week. 🙂

It was from Ella-Louise Cowley a student from Bedford Academy (UK) who took part in Project 13 last year.

She told Dale how useful she had found the workshops he ran and that, over the summer, she had secured her Degree Apprenticeship in Sustainability at Transport For London. 👏👏

And this is the second Summer he has had a message like this from a Bedford Academy student involved in Project 13. He is super-grateful they got in touch to let him know. 🙏

So, when he met with Paula Page and Colleen Galley from Aspire Higher Bedfordshire recently talk about this year’s programme, it was great to be able to share this story.

Project 13, Bedfordshire is back for its fourth year!

Over the coming months Dale will be working with nine state schools across Bedfordshire, so Bedford, Luton and Dunstable, supporting Year 13 students who are interested in Higher and Degree Apprenticeships.

It starts with an assembly for the whole of Year 13. The aim is simple.....make sure every student knows that these opportunities exist so they can figure out if they might be a good option for them.

Those who want to explore them further can then opt into a series of practical workshops covering:

🧑‍💻 Building a CV that works

💪 Developing a strong personal brand

🔗 Setting up and using LinkedIn effectively

👊 How to absolutely smash your interview

This year there's a mix of schools who have been involved before and a few ones too.

Dale is looking forward to meeting lots more young people and hopefully hearing from some of them next summer with a message that starts:

“I got my Degree Apprenticeship!”

A big thank you to Aspire Higher and UoB Outreach Team for supporting Project 13 and making this work possible.

And if you’re a school, college or Multi-Academy Trust outside Bedfordshire reading this and thinking:

“I wonder if we could do something like this?”

Yes! 😀

We should talk!