Last week, Pembrokeshire College played host to an interactive day on career pathways for Year 9 pupils from across the county. The college was full to the brim with just under 900 visitors who came to find out about future career options.

As part of the Pembrokeshire County Council initiative, the college opened its doors for the second year running and welcomed pupils from Castle School, Greenhill School, Milford Haven School, Sir Thomas Picton School, Tasker Milward School, Ysgol Bro Gwaun, Ysgol Dewi Sant and Ysgol y Preseli to experience taster sessions on three careers of their choice.

With 79 different careers to choose from, pupils were split in to mixed groups to attend sessions delivered by people with experience of the trade.

Pupils were given advice on the routes into different careers such as becoming a doctor, a welder, getting in to law or engineering. During the sessions pupils were given examples of a day in the life of each trade along with hands-on exercises from experienced professionals.

Organisations including the 3rd battalion of The Royal Welsh Regiment, Careers Wales, CITB, Dyfed Powys Police, Deloitte, the Fourcroft Hotel, Hywel Dda Health Board, HB Training, GP Will MackIntosh, Pembrokeshire County Council Town Planning, Pembrokeshire National Parks, Web Adept, the Western Telegraph and Zurich were all there to offer their expert advice.

One pupil commented: “The sessions have made me more confident about my future.”

With others saying the day gave them a chance to focus on their future before picking their GCSEs: “The day helped me see potential career choices.”

The Careers Day gave a taste of what is involved in different career paths to help Year 9 pupils make informed decisions about their future.

Assistant principal, David Evans, said: “This is the second time we have hosted this event and, thanks to multi-agency working, today’s Choices Event was bigger and better than ever. We hope that this day has given pupils the information they need to help them make more knowledgeable choices later on.”

To find out more about the range of courses available at the college, go to www.pembs.ac.uk/courses