Universities & Apprenticeships

Woolwich Polytechnic Sixth form is committed to raising aspirations for our students' futures. Whether it's university or apprenticeship, our dedicated team of staff are experts with the demands of the application process, including personal statement writing, interviews and admissions tests. The majority of our students progress to Russell Group universities or degree apprenticeships, and we pride ourselves in supporting each individual student choose what is right for them.

New partnership between Woolwich Poly and The University of Newcastle

Woolwich Poly is delighted to announce an exciting new partnership with The University of Newcastle. Our 'Newcastle Partners Programme' offers Sixth Form students the opportunity to study at one of the best Russell Group universities in the world, with a reduced offer of up to three A level grades lower than the typical university entry requirements.

In addition, students are given a taster of university life, with an all-expenses paid bed and board at the university, as well as Summer Schools and subject support.

The University of Newcastle has been voted 7th in the UK for student experience (Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey 2018) and ranked top ten in the UK for the fourth year in a row.

The partnership is a wonderful opportunity for our students and their families, and we are looking forward to working closely with this outstanding university.

UCAS

With the majority of our students attending Higher Education, we take students through the entire UCAS process with help including

• Selecting the most appropriate five choices for university
• How to select a conditional and insurance offer
• How to write a personal statement
• How to apply for student finance
• What to do on the day if they have not met their offer with dedicated staff going through clearing with the students
• What to do on the day if they have exceeded their original offer and would like to apply elsewhere

Useful Links 

• UCAS: Visit website
• Personal Statement: Visit website
• Student Finance: Visit website
• UCAS Adjustment – If You've done better than ex...: Visit website
• What is Clearing?: Visit website

Apprenticeships

With the growing interest and increased numbers of opportunities in the apprenticeship ecosystem, we believe that this is alternative to university is becoming a more and more viable option for our young people.  

We provide tailored career guidance with bespoke workshops and support for each individual student covering how to apply for jobs, interview skills and real-world financial literacy.  

We support our young people with regular webinars and bulletin emails with new opportunities and firms recruiting for the roles that they are interested in. 

Partnering with several different mentoring schemes has allowed our non-university students to flourish and secure some of the best apprenticeships on offer. We have successfully helped secure roles for our young people on higher and degree apprenticeships at firms including KPMG, JP Morgan, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Barclays, OFCOM, Bloomberg, Kepler interactive & BCS. The roles that our young people have undertaken cover project management, IT and software development, business administration, engineering to name but a few. 

As more and more firms see the benefits of hiring an apprentice, Poly is uniquely placed to support those looking for a path, outside of university, to secure the next step on the journey they take to their chosen career. 

Mentoring Programme

One of the many benefits of studying at the Poly is the huge network of community contacts and mentoring programmes that we are involved in. We want our students to have the best opportunity to meet experts in the fields that they wish to secure a career in and take advice and support from them.  

Some of our most successful mentoring programmes include The Career Ready Programme which is a complete 360-degree opportunity in preparation for the world of work, including one-to-one mentoring, skills masterclasses, and experiences of work. Each individual career ready plan is mapped to specific learning outcomes, enabling our young people to develop the skills, confidence, and aspirations needed for future career success.  

We have been with the Arts Emergency Network to support students who study subjects that fall within the Arts and Humanity faculties. Volunteers have signed up to help the next generation of activists, artists and thinkers. They do this by sharing advice, opportunities and contacts. Our young people can choose from a wide range of enriching activities to take part in, like set visits, theatre trips and work experience.  

We also work with Genesis impact and the Acclivity programme which is an 8-month mentorship programme designed to prepare high achieving B.A.M.E youth mentally, professionally and culturally for “life at the top”. The programme is focused on self-development and providing mentees with the hard-gained soft skills necessary for them to fulfil their latent potential. Upskilling students to increase work readiness will be achieved by partnering students with mentors from our corporate partner MSCI.  

We saw our first group of students take on the Berenberg Bank Journey programme. Journey is a 12-month programme targeting socially diverse sixth form students who aspire to work in investment banking, but lack the access or networks that could help them achieve it. Alongside monthly mentoring sessions where students receive professional insight and support, workshops and career skills programmes to support their development. 

We also work with Visionpath in conjunction with The Workshop who deliver AIM, a programme of one-to-one mentoring, skills sessions and career insight that will help A-level students from diverse and disadvantaged backgrounds to gain knowledge, advice and experience to shape their future careers in technology.