Girls from the cohort of 2011 returned to school to pass on practical advice to year 12 students who are preparing for the final leg of their journey to university.

A lively lunch and a question and answer session covered topics from how to really get down to writing your personal statement (just do it, then improve on it); how to choose a degree when you have divergent interests (research to start with and then network, especially with current university students) and how to settle in to university life (join loads of clubs; your friends aren’t necessarily the people on your course, budget carefully); to gap or not to gap (not an easy option, need to have a good plan in place).

The girls were surprised to learn that even high flyers found 65% for coursework to be an achievement in the first year of university.  They were also warned  not to be distracted by those who said the first year at university ‘didn’t count’.   Their sage advice was to stay true to the work ethic instilled at Sydenham High.  That way they would get more out of their course and it would also open up opportunities for internships and purposeful holiday work.

Thank you to all those who took part. It was a really successful day, which will be repeated in future years.