Sixth Form Careers Support

In Year 12, UCAS guidance and careers planning moves to a more active phase, where pupils are encouraged to start looking at their options for life beyond Warwick School and to start preparing their applications for that next step.

Higher Education Application Support
All members of Year 12 are supported through the UCAS application process by a series of events and individual meetings. Our Higher Education Evening introduces pupils to the process, and this is followed by a UCAS Application Day and university target interviews with tutors to discuss aspirations and help choose the right course for each pupil. For those not wishing to apply to university, further support is provided to explore employment or studying opportunities beyond the Sixth Form.

Assessment and Interviews Pathway (AIP)
Given the importance of achieving highly in entrance examinations for aspirational universities, including Oxbridge, Warwick School and King’s High School are also collaborating on a programme, known as the Assessment and Interviews Pathway (AIP), designed to provide our pupils with the best opportunity for success. The entrance test requirements of individual pupils are thus taken into account when deciding which pathway will suit them best. Each pathway is led by a specialist teacher who will support their cohort throughout the whole of the application process.

Foundation Law Pathway
Law is an incredibly competitive course with specific entrance requirements and is highly selective. Typically, the A Level grades required for successful candidates are A*AA to AAA (depending on which university is making the offer). In addition, many universities wish to see that applicants are dedicated to their decision to read Law at university through their engagement with co-curricular activities.

Potential applicants will be assisted by Mr Bennett (the Head of Sixth Form at Warwick School, who read Law at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge and was a solicitor before switching careers to become a teacher) through the Foundation’s Law Pathway. Pupils will undertake a programme designed to enhance critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The programme includes weekly sessions that involve:

• Exploring different areas of law, including public law, contract law, tort, equity, international law, property law and criminal law;
• Providing pupils with opportunities to read and analyse legal cases and texts;
• Enhancing pupils’ presentation and communication skills;
• Challenging pupils with complex legal problems in order to enhance their reasoning and critical observations, as well as developing their ability to explain difficult concepts in a considered, and effective manner;
• Formulating cogent and sustained arguments;
• Preparing pupils for the LNAT;
• Discussing current affairs;
• Preparing pupils for interview (if required); and
• Engaging pupils with co-curricular activities, recommended reading lists and advice on their personal statements.

Mr. Bennett and the careers department work alongside law firms and alumni from the Foundation who work within the legal sector in order to create work experience opportunities for pupils who wish to explore this option.

Furthermore, the Warwick School Law Pathway prepares and monitors the progress of pupils wishing to undertake the LNAT entrance assessment. The LNAT is required by several of the UK’s leading universities, including Oxford, Cambridge, and UCL, to test a candidate’s aptitude for the skills required to study Law. Preparation ffocuses on an intense and rigorous programme which involves seminars, practice tests, and recommended reading. The candidates will begin the programme at the start of Lent term in Year 12, giving candidates 9-10 months of preparation time. Apart from the programme’s ultimate aim of having candidates fully prepared for this assessment for Michaelmas term in Year 13, candidates also enhance their critical thinking and logic skills, building their wider appeal and readiness for leading universities and life beyond the classroom.

Foundation Medical Professionals Pathway
Medicine, Dentistry and other Healthcare courses are some of the most notoriously selective and competitive subjects for which you can apply to study at university. Entry requirements vary depending on the institution and the subject of study but most fall within a range from A*A*A to ABB. With such practical subjects, prospective students must show university admissions tutors that they have a thorough and realistic understanding of what each course, and related career, involves.

The Foundation Medical Professionals Pathway aims to offer pupils a range of opportunities to best prepare for this daunting admissions process. All pupils applying to study Medicine or Dentistry will need to sit at least one entrance exam (UCAT). Preparation for these tests takes the form of three sessions per half-term with Miss Yeldham, the coordinator of the Medicine and Health Professional Pathway, followed by weekly practice in the Summer term and culminating in a UCAT preparation day, joint with King’s High School, run by The Medic Portal and organised by the Warwick School Careers department.

Pupils will also be invited to attend the Foundation’s medical society, designed as a forum for students to discuss relevant literature and current healthcare-related issues. Pupils will also be invited to take part in the following:

• Personal statement masterclasses;
• MMI interview practice sessions;
• Traditional panel interview practice sessions;
• The Warwick School Speed Interview Evening organised and run by the Careers department at Warwick School;
• Networking events with alumni from across the Foundation organised by Miss Yeldham and the Careers Department; and
• Seminars, lectures and workshops run by alumni and individuals in the healthcare industry.

Global Universities Pathway
We have experience in assisting pupils making applications to international universities. Pupils are encouraged to explore the opportunities of study abroad, with support and advice from the school throughout the application process. Pupils opting to study abroad have been offered places at universities in Hong Kong, the United States (including Ivy League and other prestigious colleges), Australia, Canada and Europe.

By Upper Sixth, the majority of the pupils will be finalising applications for universities, jobs orapprenticeships. There are a range of opportunities for pupils to practice important skills that they will need as they finalise their choices for the future, including interview practice and personal statement reviews.

Mock Speed Interviews with Employers
At the beginning of Michaelmas term, we hold our annual Mock Speed Interviews for Year 13 pupils. Top employers from all over the country give their time to put the pupils through their paces. Each student participates in three 15-minute interviews. The evening provides participants with:

• Experience of an authentic interview situation
• Practice of answering interview questions
• Opportunity to develop confidence
• Practice and honing of their skills and abilities

Employers are selected from our alumni network including former Old Warwickians who have had successful careers in engineering, law, medicine, armed services, science, business, and many more industries. In addition, the school will be assisted by companies from the local economy. Warwick pupils engage with top employers and discover what it takes to be successful in the world of work.

Interviewers assess the pupils on their verbal and non-verbal behaviour – for example, are they suitably dressed? How did they address the questions asked? Were they coherent and confident? The interviewer then provides constructive feedback.

Ongoing support is always available
Year 13s continually receive support for their university or world of work applications, with dedicated one-to-one appointments available from a variety of the Sixth Form team.

We encourage Year 13 pupils to attend as many of our Encounters lectures as possible, engaging with inspiring visiting speakers, asking questions and even attending an informal dinner at school with the speakers afterwards, where suitable. We impress upon all pupils that they will reap the benefits from investing time and focus on the incredible opportunities available at Warwick School, and this is truer than ever in Year 13.