Make the most of your summer – six top tips for sixth formers

Just a few days left until the end of term…So bookmark this blog and keep your eyes on the prize…

 

When you’ve finished your exams, the summer holidays are an enormous relief. It feels like you’ve got an indefinite period to sleep in, chill out and relax after the stress of exams. However, September comes around pretty quick and it’s back to school before you know it – so make the most of your time off and ensure it’s both restful and productive.

Here are our six top tips for making the most of your student summers:

 

  1. Plan plan plan!

Six weeks may seem like forever but it’s back to school before you know it. Just as you may have made a revision plan, make a plan for your summer, using a calendar and ensuring you include rest and relaxation, work experience and enrichment activities.

 

  1. Think about your personal statement

It won’t be long before you’ll be competing with thousands of other sixth formers for university places. Think strategically about what you want to put on your UCAS personal statement and use your summer wisely to implement your plans! Visit university summer open days and read up on the subjects you’re interested in. Get an idea of what you should be including now.

 

  1. Volunteer

This is such a good time to offer yourself to a worthy cause. Check out the Do-It Trust for how to begin. And you’re not yet driving and local transport links aren’t great, that shouldn’t stop you; Skills for Change is a site focused on microvolunteering opportunities you can do from your sofa.

 

  1. Work experience

Summer work experience gives you a massive competitive advantage both for university applications and future employment. Be brazen about using contacts, and check out Student Ladder for listings of the best internships, placements and careers events for students.

 

  1. Learn a new skill

There won’t be many times in your life when you’ll have the headspace to learn a new skill in a short space of time. Floodlight is a central database of courses of any length, in anything you’d imagine. While adding key work-centric skills to your CV is admirable, however, there is some merit in learning something creative you’ve always fancied…just for the sake of it.

 

  1. Make memories

This won’t be the first mention of how special, and short, these sixth form holidays are for you – nor will it be the last. You don’t want to look back as an adult and regret a single moment of them. So don’t waste a moment, and make sure you catalogue your summer using social media so that you’ve got memories you can return to.

 

Have a wonderful time!