How To Make the Most of Sixth Form

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Whether you're in your first or second year of sixth form, just starting out or sent off your uni applications MONTHS ago, it's vital to make the most of it, both in terms of your studies, your university research and your planning for your future. But how on earth do you do that?

Use your teacher's expertise

If you have an idea of what subject you want to do at uni, why not speak to a teacher who teaches in that area? They can suggest some areas to research independently that might be useful to you once you start uni. Doing this also really helps your personal statement stand out. Hopefully, it'll also be interesting as its a topic you're passionate about and it'll give you a taste of what independent research at uni is like.

Use your weekends to work a part-time job

While you may feel as though you've got enough on your plate with A-levels, sixth form is a great time to get your first taste of the working world. Popular jobs for sixth form students include retail assistant, barista or wait staff. Most of the time, you'll get a discount in the store you work at as well, or at minimum free coffee during your shift if you're a barista. These jobs teach you a lot of transferrable skills that you might not learn at school, for example responsible handling of money and transactions, customer service skills, proactiveness and verbal communication.

Talk to your careers advisor

If your school has a careers advisor, it's a great idea to make an appointment with them to talk through the kinds of support they can offer. Even if you're not sure what you want to do yet, a careers advisor can help introduce you to the different kinds of jobs available and they may also offer things like mock interviews and help with writing and editing your CV. If your school doesn't have a careers advisor, you can also check out our career guides and career matcher to get your career search off to a flying start.

Learn to drive

Now this only applies once your 17th birthday has passed but learning to drive while you're in sixth form can be really beneficial later. Once you're at uni you might not want to commit to weekly driving lessons and depending on where you live and where you want to go to uni, you might be moving to an area with a more challenging road system which isn't what you want while you're learning. It also means you'd have the option of taking a car to uni and it's just one less thing to have to worry about doing before you graduate and need to start commuting to work every day.

Join extra-curricular clubs

This is a great way to make more friends, whether it's run by your sixth form or by a local organisation. It looks great on your personal statement if you join a club and learn a new skill that you wouldn't have picked up in classes. You could try learning a language, or joining a sports club, or developing your creative side through art classes. These kind of clubs might also give you an idea of what societies or clubs you might want to join at uni.

Go to uni open days

This is one of the best ways to get prepared for the next stage of your education. So much so we've got a whole section of the website dedicated to open days. Even if you're only in Year 12, it's never too early to start going to open days. The more you go to, the more you get a feel for the sort of thing you want from your uni experience. Do you want to be on a small campus, or would you rather your uni be spread out across a larger city? These kind of questions are best answered through visits to see how you feel when you're walking around.

Want more tips? Check out this video on the 5 most common personal statement mistakes.

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