“The Experience of a Lifetime”: Back at the University of Bath for our Year 10 Residential

In July, we were thrilled to hold our 2nd Year 10 residential at the University of Bath. This year 81 Future Leaders from our hubs across the country travelled to Bath, some by coach and some by plane!  

Residentials are a vital and enriching part of our programme. They offer young people time away from the classroom to explore a range of future pathways, including university, apprenticeships and careers, and bring students together to work on group projects over the week. Future Leaders rated the residential at least 4 out of 5, with  90% of students telling us that it met or exceeded their expectations.  

Monique, a Future Leader from Norwich, told us: “I was already thinking about going to university but this has definitely helped open my eyes to not only the options outside of uni, but how much I enjoyed being at university.” 

Our programme for the residential kicked off with a morning session with Dale from My Great First Job, who led an insightful workshop on apprenticeships. This dedicated time allowed our Future Leaders to deepen their understanding of alternative post-16 pathways.  We were also joined for a careers session by Sopra Steria volunteers who challenged students to use strategies for time management and prioritisation to deliver their projects on time.

Students working during their skills building sessions on team work.

Our amazing Student Ambassadors also took Future Leaders on a tour of Bath. As well as discovering the city’s history and seeing iconic landmarks, students got to enjoy time off-campus and continue developing new friendships and connections. 

Tour of the City of Bath, led by the University's Student Ambassadors.

Tom, a Future Leader from Swindon, added, “I absolutely loved doing the trip around the city. It’s the thing I’ve been most excited for when I first heard about the trip because I love seeing historical sights.” 

The week culminated in a careers fair where Future Leaders presented their project work to their peers. Throughout the week students produced poster-boards and presentations on careers in subjects they were interested in. They put an incredible amount of work into make these projects not only informative but also vibrant and creative!  

Poster-boards of students' work.

Karen Kingston, Programme Coordinator in Swindon, said: “It was great to see how well the Future Leaders bonded with each other over the 4 days. They formed some good inter-school friendships.” 

We asked our Future Leaders for three words or phrases to sum up their experience at the residential: 

“Super enjoyable, lots of new friends, lovely living away from home experience” 

“Fun, enjoyable, informative” 

“Experience of a lifetime, building relationships and developing skills” 

To find out more about the Future Leaders Programme click here!

Thanks to the University of Bath, Sopra Steria, the Essex Community Foundation and all those supporters who helped to make the residential such a success. A special thanks to the Student Ambassadors for being brilliant hosts!