National Careers Week 2025

March 14th 2025

National Careers Week in the UK is a one-week celebration of careers guidance and free resources in education across the UK. This year it took place from 3 – 8 March and at Alleyn’s School we have primarily focused on amplifying Gatsby Benchmark 4 “Linking Curriculum Learning to Careers”.

We were delighted to welcome 13 guests from our parents and alumni community to some of our Year 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 lessons over the course of the week (all year groups except those soon doing public exams), to discuss how they went from A Levels, undergraduate or post-graduate degrees in certain academic subjects – and what their career then went on to entail.

Before welcoming guests, Mrs Visram, Head of Careers, delivered a brief assembly to all students in which they were told about National Careers Week and reminded of the career development support available to them. This includes careers curiosity in the Lower School, careers curiosity and exploration in the Mmiddle Sschool and both of those areas as well as careers decision-making in the Uupper Sschool.

The linking curriculum learning to careers in-lesson talks then began and below is an indication of the shape of the weekThe "Linking Curriculum Learning to Careers" in-lesson talks then began, and below is an overview of the week:

Monday:

Aubin Noel is a Director, Portfolio Risk at Hayfin with an academic background including a Master’s in Finance from London Business School, and a MSc in Optics and Photonics and MSci in Physics, both from Imperial College London. He spoke to pupils in a Year 7 Science and Year 10 Physics lesson

Corinna Mitchell is currently General Counsel at Symphony.com whose academic journey was primarily in Australia and included a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne. She delivered engaging question-filled sessions to two Year 12 Economics lessons

Tuesday:

Divya Berry is a mental Health professional with over a decade of experience, interdisciplinary training via Master’s Degrees in Health Psychology & Social Psychology and vocational experience in Clinical Psychology & Hospital / Wellness Administration. She connected with three Year 12 Psychology lessons

Wednesday:

Rita Dhut is A Non-Exec Director for varying organisations in the Finance space shared her relevant academic background and talked to two Y12 Economics lessons
Alumna Kate Ackland (Tyson’s 2011) - currently Senior Legal Counsel at a medium sized pharmaceutical company, Norgine Limited spoke to a Year 12 and Year 10 French lesson about her career journey to date... which began with an undergraduate degree in French and Italian when she left Alleyn’s. Find out more here.
Alumnus Ewan Leslie (Tulley’s 2016) is a graphic designer who balances his employed and freelance work and delivered a fascinating session to some Year 8, Year 10 and Year 12 students – taking them on a journey from his foundation degree in Art/Art Studies and bachelor's degree Graphic Design to where he is now. Find out more here.

Thursday:

Philippe Masson is currently a Quantitative Analyst at JP Morgan and his academic journey included a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge and a degree in Mathematics from the University of Brussels (including study at University of Oxford) and on Thursday morning he spoke to a series of Year 12 Further Maths and Maths lessons
Sjaniel Turrell is Make Up Artist and Nutritional Therapist whose passion is sharing sustainability and chemistry knowledge around the effect of all the cosmetic products we use in our daily lives. Her academic background which included chemistry and biology made her a brilliant guest for the pupils she spoke to in their chemistry lessons, including some Year 7 Science and Year 9 Chemistry.
Francisco Suzuki-Vidal is a plasma physicist working in research linked to high-energy density physics and inertial confinement fusion. Speaking to a selection of lessons, he did talks in Physics lessons including Year 8, 9, 10 and 12 and even the lunchtime Astronomy society.

Dr Brian Hogan is a Consultant Hepatologist with experience in all aspects of liver disease (including abnormal liver function tests, hepatitis, fatty liver disease, fibrosis and Fibroscan). He delivered a session in a Year 12 Chemistry lesson and went to the Methics (Medical Ethics) student society at lunch time, open to all those curious about careers in medicine

After school, CCF cadets and others who joined in, listened to a talk from Ivor Gardner about his professional military career.

Friday:

Martin Cullingford joined classical music magazine Gramophone 23 years ago, working his way up to become Editor & Publisher. His academic journey included reading History at Cambridge, and he delivered a session for one Year 10 and one Year 12 History lesson.

Perry Thomas is the CEO of Flood Re, a collaboration between government and the insurance industry. He is also on the boards of two other insurers, Assurant Europe and British Friendly. He’s an actuary with 35 years in financial services and he did two sessions within Maths lessons, though students came to the Great Hall to be able to incorporate all Year 10s

Jen Green is a London based composer, orchestrator and arranger. She works regularly with the leading names in musical theatre and music production. She read music at Worcester College, Oxford, where she studied composition with Robert Saxton, and holds an MA in Musical Theatre from Goldsmiths, University of London. She spoke to a Year 9 and a Year 12 Music lesson.

It’s been an incredibly busy National Careers Week, and we are grateful to every guest for their time and commitment to supporting the careers programme at Alleyn’s School

If you feel inspired to do the same, please reach out via [email protected]

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