It's that time of the year again. Exams, coursework deadlines, it's all getting closer and the pressure's mounting up but for one group of students there's even more to handle. Upper Sixth Form students here at St. Chad's are preparing for the next big step in their education; university.

Students have, by now, made the choice of whether to continue on to university and have applied to the ones they would like to attend. Teachers and advisors have helped to prepare them, from inside and outside the school. The latest of these was the Money Matters Student Finance Event at Halton Stadium, Widnes.

The event, held on 21st March 2006, was attended by 130 students from across the Halton Borough, all hoping to go on to university in September. Sixth Form students from right here at St. Chad's also attended the event where they were involved in a number of workshops aimed to teach them the important things they'd need to know about money and university.

From managing your budget to information on the different loans and grants available to students, the whole day was a great learning experience. Helen Snee, 17, explains why she thought the day was so good. "Although we get told the stuff in school there's never enough information. Having the professionals explain it was more beneficial."

The day was organised by the Halton Higher Education Advocacy Team (Lindsay Temmen, Suzanne Smith, Kevin Tasker). In attendance there were a number of major banks and representatives from the local Higher Education Institutes. The staff at the event were friendly and approachable and ready to answer questions. There was a friendly, relaxed atmosphere on the whole day and everyone was in the same situation so there was no pressure to get everything right. Would Helen recommend it to others though? "Yes, because I had many unanswered questions that I now have the answers to."

Rachel Grindrod
article published 4th April 2006