Each girl has a planned programme of activities to help her make decisions and plan her higher education choices and ultimately her career.  The careers programme includes activities that encompass careers education lessons, careers guidance activities (group and individual interviews) information and research activities and work-related learning.  While we aim to integrate careers education into girls’ experience of the whole curriculum and through the General Studies programme, we also provide special occasions and events to explore this area further.

Each year we hold a Careers Seminar evening to which people from a broad range of career fields are invited.  There is also a biennial Careers Fair that gives girls the opportunity to discuss higher education and careers paths with individuals from diverse careers and higher education institutions.  We also engage a number of guest speakers throughout the year who speak to girls on careers in the arts and sciences.  The Wycombe Abbey Management Conference, held each March, is a dynamic event that introduces girls to the world of work in a fun and interactive way.  It allows girls to engage with adults from a range of business backgrounds and to participate in a series of activities to enhance their experience of these business fields.

We also value our links with the Independent Schools Career Organisation and each year we work closely with them to conduct the Morrisby careers tests for our UV girls.  Following these tests girls have individual interviews and this provides an excellent opportunity for UV girls to concentrate on the future direction of their education and work experience.  Our work experience programme is thriving, and each year girls undertake productive placements in a huge variety of professional contexts.

Of course the sixth form is a time of further decisions and forward planning, as girls begin to contemplate and research what they would like to study at university.  In the lower-sixth girls attend university preparation days and those thinking about an Oxbridge application are taken to Oxford or Cambridge to meet Wycombe seniors.  There is a full programme of guidance and advice on everything from personal statements to university interviews throughout the lower and upper sixth.