National Careers Week
11 March 2026 - Academic
Pupils at Wycombe Abbey enjoyed a myriad of opportunities to engage in conversations, reflections and activities linked to careers throughout National Careers Week.
Our Tea and Chat events provided opportunities for pupils to learn about career options from familiar faces in a friendly, informal setting. Dr Johnson shared her journey from biochemistry PhD to biotech genetics start-up, and Padre Paul discussed the skills developed in an army career from shining your shoes to resilience in the face of hardship and service to others.
During the Careers Spotlight we welcomed Wycombe Abbey Seniors who had chosen to study languages at university. A clear message emerged from their experiences: studying languages opens doors to a wide range of career paths, employers actively seek out language graduates, and the ability to communicate with someone in their own language is an invaluable skill. Their accounts of foreign travel during both university and their professional lives were inspiring, and each alumna had pursued a markedly different direction spanning government, defence, finance, and aspirations toward law.
There were two trips during the week, the first of which took a group of LIV to the Bucks Skills Show at Stoke Mandeville Stadium. This highly interactive careers fair invited pupils to try hands-on tasks set by each employer, giving them a real insight into the skills used in different industries: from physical abilities such as quick reactions and precise coordination, to mental skills like numeracy, problem-solving and creativity. A particular highlight was the opportunity for pupils to speak with a wide range of employers and discover that broad aspirations such as medicine, finance or engineering encompass an array of roles requiring different strengths.
The second trip was to the Aviva offices in the City of London where a panel of graduates working across a range of financial roles, shared insights into how they had entered the industry and what their day-to-day work involved. It was a great introduction to the breadth of financial careers, and truly inspiring for the girls to visit offices in the heart of the City, where they could imagine themselves working in the future.
The Careers Department at Wycombe Abbey aims to weave careers into the fabric of everyday school life, ensuring that pupils experience it as normal, relevant, continuous and visible. National Careers Week has provided a wonderful opportunity to highlight this ethos, and we hope it sets the momentum for both staff and pupils to continue engaging meaningfully with careers education throughout the year. Through inspiring speakers, interactive trips, curriculum-linked discussions, and pupil-led initiatives, the week showcased the breadth of possibilities open to our pupils and reinforced our commitment to helping every girl feel confident and excited about her future.
Mrs Laura Manning
Head of Careers
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