Great Careers and Apprenticeships Show at the BIC for 2025

Over 4,000 young guests were in attendanceat the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) for the Careers and Apprenticeships Show, in which Bournemouth and Poole College were proud to be ‘Gold’ sponsors. In total, 2,200 young people booked in the day session, 200 for the post-16 hour and 1,900 guests for the evening session. 

Students went about the stalls with vigour and enthusiasm, keen to capture as much as possible from the experience. They arrived in half-hour slots and watched on video on entry, then they made their way around the stalls, taking stock of what was there and the career choices they may make. 

From the Bournemouth and Poole College stand, staff from Digital came with robot arms for students to try some problem solving, a 360-degree camera of the event, a ‘banana’ keyboard where students could learn to charge phones etc, and some student projects on display. Manning the stand with staff were James, Ollie and Tibor – all current Digital students on the T Level course in Digital Support Services.

Also, on another part of the college’s stand students could try out blood pressure monitors, thermometers and the medical manikin – which is ‘responsive’ and carries ‘dummy’ stomach contents, for example. This stand attracted lots of questions and interest, too. 

Esports on the college stand had an 8-minute video on loop which was made for students, by students. Ben and Rob from the team were on hand to walk possible new students through a career in digital-based Esports. 

The Engineering department also attended with a soldering arm for students to try. Students were given freebies from the college’s stand, by spinning a wheel of fortune. Emily Bailey, School Liaison Manager for the college said; “We’ve had a flurry of interest in our activity spinning wheel. It’s wonderful to engage with so many students and have the opportunity to talk to them about their futures.” 

Jeron, a student in Year 12 at St Edward’s School, Poole said: “The Careers and Apprenticeships Show is pretty good. It was helpful to find a few work experience options. I’m hoping to study Computer Science and the stands gave me a few ideas for work experience such as Google Maps and BCP Council.”

Noah and Sam, both from Year 10 at Poole Grammar School said: “It was very good, and there was a variety of different employers.”