Posted 15 December 2021

Last month great success was to be found at Farnley Academy’s Career Fair, where over 400 people were in attendance to gather information on where their futures may lie. Clare Smith, the Progression Officer at the academy, had arranged for a variety of guests including:

AECOM Appris British Army Askham Bryan College CPS Craven College/Aviation Academy Elliott Hudson College Farsley Celtic FC Go Higher West Yorkshire Leeds Arts University

Leeds Beckett University Leeds City College Leeds College of Building Leeds Grand Theatre Leeds Trinity University Leeds University McLaren Notre Dame College RAF West Yorkshire Police Westrow Academy

This fantastic array of guests circled the Go Higher West Yorkshire set up in the centre of the sports hall, ready for the oncoming students all bringing questions and worries that they may have about their future.

An entrance from Yorkshire Police and their Off-road Motorcycle team drew in a crowd at the back of the hall, with students and parents alike wanting to get their chance to question the officers on hand.

Parallel to the excitement of the bikes McLaren had a brought a few toys to show off, including aerodynamic wings from their latest attempt at innovation.

With an attendance of 414 people the event proved to be a huge first step into getting back to face -to-face events after two years of not being able to host such events. The importance of students getting the opportunity to discover what options are available to them and more so the support that these institutions can offer continues to be a valuable experience.

The event received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the students with comments like ‘it was perfect’ and ‘it was informative and will allow us to look at all options available’ coming out of the evaluation process conducted after the event. Having such a diverse variety of vendors at the fair really allowed for students of all backgrounds and interests to have a balanced opportunity at discovering what may be their best next step, highlighting the important work that events like this mean to a variety of students.

Jake Jackson, GHWY 2021.