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Year 12 is a tough year to be in, you’ve just done your GCSEs, you’ve taken a huge step up by starting you’re A-levels or IB qualifications and it's starting to feel very real that you only have 18 months left in school. The rest of your life isn’t that far away and many of you will start thinking about university soon, with that in mind, here’s a list of things to do this year to help your future self out.
1. Apply for work experience
Summer is a fantastic time to get some work experience in, whether it’s waiting tables in a restaurant or two weeks shadowing a GP at your local surgery, getting work experience will not only help you grow but will also help when it comes to writing that personal statement.
Why is work experience important?
Work experience is a bit like trying on clothes in a shop before you commit to buying them. It gives you an insight into what the day-to-day life in a particular job is like. Is the reality of the job the same as your expectations?
How to get work experience?
Most likely you are 16 or 17 years old so you have the chance to get a summer job or apply for work experience programs. If you have a career path in mind, Prospects advertises some fantastic work experience opportunities with larger businesses and corporations that offer anything from 1-day of shadowing to 6-week placements over the summer. It’s also worth contacting smaller local businesses that although, may not advertise work experience may be more than happy to offer you work experience and could even give you a more authentic reality of the day-to-day than some of the larger programs.
Local summer or part-time jobs, are a fantastic opportunity to earn whilst you work. You are broadening your life skills and getting hands-on experience, two things school can’t teach you. You never know, this might spark your interest in customer service or make you want to run a mile, figuring out what you don't want to do is just as valuable as working out what you do want to do.
2. Be academically prepared
All too often students treat the end-of-year exams in year 12 like a warm-up, not trying as hard as they would if they were the real A-level exams. Whilst they aren’t giving you a qualification, they are usually the key piece of evidence used to assign your UCAS predicted grade. These predicted grades are a filtering tool used by many university courses to identify if you are the right student for that course. The better your predicted grades, the more options you have for both courses and universities.
3. Ask for help
You are already a term in and probably settled into your subjects and routine much better than you were at the start of the year. This is a great opportunity to review where you’re at both with your subjects and your mental health and think about where you want to be. Ask yourself:
What are you aiming for at the end of year 13?
What/who will help you get there?
Asking for help comes more naturally to some than others but it's one of the best ways to achieve success. Whether you need help with specific topics from your teacher or a tutor? Need to speak to a counsellor about the pressures you are feeling? Need help from a mentor to help with organisation? Seek the specialist and ask them for help, you'll be so much better for it.
4. Take part in academic extension
Whilst your grades in end-of-topic tests might demonstrate some of your academic interest, they do not necessarily show your interest in the subject beyond the classroom. If you are wanting to show why you might be interested in the subject or related field at a higher level in your UCAS application, you should be looking into taking part in some forms of academic extension. Some ideas for chemistry related academic extension:
Annual Chemistry Olympiad - (This years is February 26th 2023)
Support younger students with RSC Global Experiment.
5. Join a group or club
You may be focused completely on your academics, but having interests outside of your academics makes you interesting and helps you to stand out from the crowd. Joining a club or group can be a great way to get involved in fun extra-curricular activities that expand your interests.
I don’t know your school but I have a good feeling that there will be some if not all of these run at your school throughout the year:
Duke of Edinburgh
Sports teams
Art/photography/drama/coding or many of the other clubs
Charities group
Attending School talks or local evening events
Now I appreciate that not all of these will be up your street but if there’s something that sounds interesting to you, even if your friends might not think it’s ‘cool’ go along and give it a try. I promise you that taking part in clubs or groups either in or outside of school makes you a far more interesting person and if you’re an interesting person it’s a lot easier to write a UCAS personal statement.
Help future you!
Each of these 5 things should not only help you grow as a person but also help to improve the university application process for you. If you've found this helpful please share it with friends or family. If you've got ideas for other content you would like to see please get in touch.
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