Case Study: Katy Harper

WHILE some people come to Lakes College without a careers pathway set in stone, Katy Harper knew exactly where she wanted to get to and how the college could help her to reach it. 

Katy, who is from Broughton Moor and went to Cockermouth School, is passionate about helping people and, looking for a ‘caring career’, picked the T Level in Health (Nurse Cadets). 

It is the blend of academic study and technical education which Katy believes will be great for so many people, aligning their experience to their chosen career and heightening the focus on their professional goals. 

One of the highlights of Katy’s time with the college so far was the visit of The Post-Mortem Live – an opportunity for learners to get into scrubs and experience a live autopsy with realistic dummies of human bodies. 

Other opportunities like carrying out presentations in class have also contributed to a confidence boost for Katy. 

“These practical opportunities are the very best bit of the course,” the 16-year-old said. “I also enjoy being in the clinical labs and doing scenarios; our latest scenario was a mental health appointment scenario with two nurses. 

“The filming then gets edited and the students get to watch it back and reflect on what happened.” 

Katy recommends a T Level for someone who has a career in mind and wants a clear pathway to help them to reach it. 

“This would give me a fresh start educationally and I felt college would be a more grown-up environment,” Katy said. 

“I knew exactly what I wanted to do as my career so I chose a vocational course aligned to this so I could solely focus on the one subject while gaining UCAS points.” 

She hopes to go to university to study a degree with a view to becoming an adult nurse. 

“Do your research and find out more to make sure it’s right for you,” she said. 

“If you know what vocation you want and are focused and dedicated, the T Levels are good for that.  

“The teacher support is really good, you get frequent one-to-ones if you are struggling and the college app has a course group to ask questions and the staff reply quickly.”