High-flying school pupils from across the area had a chance to showcase their talents at an event held at Barrow Sixth Form College.
The Year 11s were invited to the Rating Lane campus last night for a taster of the college’s Honours programme taking part in a research and presentation task looking at their future careers.
The Honours programme was set up to support academically talented students who show a flair for a subject and want to extend their knowledge in preparation for university, higher apprenticeships or employment after college.
It is run in partnership with Lancaster University and offers top-achieving sixth formers a head start with expert mentoring, personal statement review and summer school places alongside a guaranteed university offer.
Some 30 pupils, who are taking their GCSEs this summer, attended the event from schools ranging from St Bernard’s, Dowdales, Walney, Chetwynde, Furness Academy and John Ruskin.
They met each other and their future tutors with an introduction session in the Students’ Union and then enjoyed a subject area session with one of the specialist tutors for a more in-depth discussion about the topics they could study.
Honours Programme subjects include science, history, politics, law, psychology, business, accounting, maths, English, and media. There was also a session for those looking for careers in medicine, veterinary, dentistry and health-related roles.
Students also spoke to current Honours students about the programme.
Honours student Gypsey Paton, who studies A-levels in biology, psychology and sociology, talked to pupils about her experience and her Extended Project Qualification which is researching how children’s books have developed to reflect diversity in today’s society.
“When I was a Furness Academy student, I came to the Honours event and was inspired by the sixth-formers I met so I wanted to come back to talk to future students about the opportunities the Honours programme can give you and encourage them to work hard to meet their grades.”
Students identified by their school
Students are identified by their school in Year 10 and nominated for a place, with meetings taking place in Year 10 and Year 11. To be accepted onto the Honours Programme, students need to achieve an average GCSE score of at least 7.0, which means mainly grades 7, 8 or 9 (old-style GCSEs at A or A* grades).
Walney School pupil Mia Marshall said she found the event interesting and it was a great introduction to college life. “The college is a lot bigger than I expected but I soon settled in and the tasks were enjoyable,” she said.
Bradley Stainton from Dowdales School said attending the event would help him when he starts at college in September. “The college was welcoming and the staff made the tasks easy and fun.”
Year 11s are invited to sign up to the Spring into Sixth Form event on March 23 from 4.30pm-6.30pm which gives all students the chance to find out more about sixth form college.
