Gladesmore Community School have a longstanding relationship with Royal Holloway and we were keen for pupils to be engaging with KS5 pathways during National Careers Week.  However, we also know from pupil focus groups that many families are anxious about the high costs associated with university.  At Gladesmore, we always want to make sure that pupils have accurate information so they can make informed decisions and so we invited Royal Holloway to share information about Student Finance. 

We were a little nervous when our Royal Holloway link told us that this presentation would be delivered by a Student Ambassador.  It seemed a big ask for a young person to deliver a workshop to 270 teenagers.  However, the Student Ambassador allayed all our fears by delivering a masterclass both in student finance but also providing advice on financial planning which everyone could utilise e.g. batch cooking.  Afterwards pupils in Year 10 commented that they were reassured by seeing the repayment schedule and also that many would commit to exploring bursaries and scholarships before they paid their first term fees!