STUDENTS at Workington's Energy Coast University Technical College were involved in the school's first ever virtual work experience week.

Year 10 pupils, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, would have spent time with employers at their workplaces, experiencing the world of work first-hand.

However senior leaders at the college on Blackwood Road decided this was an opportunity to adapt to circumstances adapt rather than cancel so students did not miss out on the opportunity.

After speaking to employer's however they came up with a number of ideas, presentations, projects, careers talks and experiences which related to the world of work in a virtual setting.

Students have been using Teams, Zoom and virtual reality headsets to explore areas like engineering design and construction, transporting nuclear waste, requirement capture, electrical engineering, small nuclear reactors, podcasts and much, much more alongside several careers talks with apprentices and graduates.

Students have worked in teams, collaborated with other companies, asked intuitive questions, shown resilience in problem solving and feedback with presentations or reports to employers.

It is hoped that all of these experiences will be pivotal in preparing them for the world of work and making them more employable.

There have been more than 40 employers involved in the project.

The college have sent a special thank you to Mission CX and the Centre for Leaderships Performance in cooperation with Sellafield who have facilitated three groups in the week long experience.

Assistant principal Simon Richardson said: "At the UTC we put our student’s employability skills front and centre.

"The effort put in by our fantastic employer partners has allowed our students to gain these skills in the virtual world’.

Ben Slater of Mission CX said: “What a fantastic week and experience.

"I’m blown away with what our partners have delivered.

"We hope the students this will mean that students have a broader appreciation of the work opportunities on their doorstep and further afield, with an enhanced understanding of complex engineering and construction project delivery.

"Our VR.WRX ,Virtual Reality work experience, which we have used for the first time this week, is going to be a game changer”.