B6 Apprenticeship Academy Students Take Part in Mock Assessment Centre

Earlier in the term, some of our B6 Apprenticeship Academy students had a fantastic day taking part in a Mock Assessment Centre. We hosted the event to give students an idea of what to expect and gain individual feedback from employers about their performance. Assessment Centres are often the final stage of recruitment for Degree Apprenticeships, and usually involve a range of individual and group tasks. Students in our Apprenticeship Academy have already attended workshops on searching for vacancies, mastering application forms, and acing ability tests. 

We welcomed three large employers: Fujitsu, Electricity North West and First Response Finance who each ran a group activity. Students were put to the test by rotating around the room to complete the three tasks, each being assessed by the employers on different criteria, including:

• Leadership

• Problem-solving

• Dealing with pressure

• Active listening

• Decision making

We had 40 students take part, and employers chose eight winners of the day who would have secured the apprenticeship, had this been a real assessment centre.

The employers and students were all very positive about the experience. James Sharman – Byte Team Lead at Fujitsu said:

  “An excellent event to be part of, well organised and fantastic to meet some talent of the future !” 

Two B6 Alumni members: Tamanna Abdullah and Shana Patel were really happy to come and facilitate the event with Tamanna saying:

“Today I had the opportunity to visit my old college, The Sixth Form Bolton to help out with a mock assessment centre along with my colleagues James Sharman, Ethan Odziemski & Shana Patel. It was wonderful to be back after three years and to speak to many ambitious students who are considering applying for degree apprenticeships. Mock assessment centres allow students to be exposed to a simulation of tasks, in which they are then able to receive feedback on their performance, which will help them understand their strengths and weaknesses and improve their skills set for future interviews and assessment centres.”

It was an invaluable event for the students and they were really grateful to the Careers team for arranging it. Dylan Pearcy, a former Smithills School student who is now studying Triple Information Technology at B6 said:

“Taking part in this event gives the opportunity to get a taste of how assessment centres might work, which for me was incredibly helpful, as my hopes are to do an apprenticeship in software development or cyber security, which requires a lot of communication skills. Having the careers team there to help when looking for apprenticeships and hosting these events has made the whole process much easier and I couldn’t thank them enough for their efforts.”

Nuzhat Luhar, a former Bolton Muslim Girls’ School student who is now studying Business Studies, Media Studies and Sociology at B6 said:

“I chose to take part in the Apprenticeship Academy Mock Assessment Centre because I am applying for an apprenticeship, and I believe it will help me in my preparation. I am hoping to do an apprenticeship in Journalism at the BBC after leaving B6. The Careers team helped me find apprenticeships in the media industry that I was interested in. They also gave me good feedback that I am incorporating into my application.”

A huge thank you to everyone involved in the Assessment Centre. We look forward to following the students’ progress in their search for Degree Apprenticeships. Find out more about the support that the B6 Careers Team offers our students here.