Selby College’s Travel & Tourism students have broadened their horizons with a series of work experience opportunities, guest speakers and assessment days.

The students, who are aspiring cabin crew members, travel agents and tour managers, learnt all about the travel industry from leading organisations easyJet, Jet2 and FlyMe, through educational experience days and visits from guest speakers.

The jam-packed work experience day with Jet2 allowed students to explore its headquarters and one of its terminals, as well as hear from experts working in flight planning, customer service, operations centre and recruitment.

Jack Walker from easyJet also visited the students to talk to them about the process of becoming a pilot, what he does day-to-day as well as some key information about easyJet’s business background.

We wanted the students to think about their future careers, gain some hands-on experience in real work environments and insight into the flourishing industry from experts currently in the field. We have seen a real change in the students since taking part in these activities, they have become more informed of the career options available to them and are excited to pursue their dreams of working in the aviation industry.

The students were also recently invited to FlyMe, a flight school based in Barnsley, which specialises in flight simulators and runs experience days that create realistic settings for students in the aviation industry – enabling them to develop and practice real-life scenarios.

FlyMe’s mock airport has its own check-in desk, departure lounge, security gates and air traffic control, where students are trained on the all-important protocols that are carried out each day by airport and cabin crew staff. This includes conducting a duty free and drinks service, a safety demonstration, a rescue mission, evacuation and working at the check-in and security desks.

To top off the day, the students tested their flying skills by simulating a Boeing 737 flight which they successfully landed at Manchester Airport.

Former Level 3 Travel & Tourism student, Emma Newbould, recently spoke to students about her journey from studying at College to becoming an air hostess with Virgin Atlantic and travelling around the world.

When studying the Travel & Tourism course, we learnt all about the travel industry and the skills needed to become cabin crew, which enabled me to secure a job as a long-haul cabin crew member for Virgin Atlantic. It gave me a lot of independence and encouraged me to be creative with my projects. The tutors were friendly and made lessons interactive which helped us learn in a fun way.

The programme boasts of its dynamic course content and range of college trips and experience days that the students continually get involved in.