BTEC and A Level students visit Financial Times

Last month, business, IT and A Level students from Capital City College (CCC)’s Holloway and Sixth Form centres went on a workplace visit to the Financial Times (FT).

Organised by the FT and the social mobility charity Career Ready, this visit featured a full day of talks from experts.

Stefania Caria, Enterprise Employability and Careers Manager at CCC, shared details of the day:

“It was an exciting day in the iconic settings of the FT offices. After an introduction of the Financial Times as a business and its audience, the morning went ahead with an engaging and inspiring session on oracy skills presented by broadcast expert Laurence Lee and Debbie Newman, founder of the debate education organisation, Noisy Classroom.   

“The afternoon session focused on a financial literacy workshop designed to help students understand how to budget, read a payslip and plan for financial security and success.”

“Teachers and careers teams were really proud to see that CCC students engaged well with all activities and were ready to participate in group exercises and role playing on stage to practice their communication and interview skills.  

“As Laurence mentioned, in this this AI age, communication has become the most valuable asset, and wouldn’t be amazing if young people could learn how to broadcast themselves and confidently speak about their strengths in interviews, without worrying about sounding arrogant or feeling not good enough? 

“ As an FE College our mission is to ensure that every CCC student has access to a multitude of opportunities that empower them to build a successful future. This was the essence and true meaning of the day at the Financial Times.”

What our students said  

Yaseen Shakil commented: “It was an inspiring and exciting experience, so much valuable information relayed to us within a few hours! Would love to join the FT news school after hearing about it too!”

Zohal Uria added: “The visit was not just fun but really useful too, we even practiced interview questions which boosted my confidence and we talked to the other students it was really engaging and informative.”

Jonathan Osei-Bonsu said: “This FT visit was thrilling and enjoyable as I learnt many different things like to how to act in an interview as well as payslips and what needs are compared to wants, and how to prioritise.”

Ben Orcese, HE and Careers Adviser at CCC, said: “Our career ready students were able to further develop their interview skills by undertaking practical oracy sessions with peers and professionals. Students also benefited from a life skills session around financial literacy and learning about budgeting and payslips.”

Stefania concluded: “At this event, I saw something powerful: young people discovering that their voice matters. When we teach oracy and financial literacy, we’re not just giving them skills, we’re giving them the confidence to determine their own future. Because when you can speak with clarity and understand how money works, you stop reacting to the world and start leading in it.”

Curious about the world of business, media and broadcasting? At CCC, you can study Broadcasting and Photojournalism, take business courses, or get behind the camera and learn about Creative Media Production and Technology (Film and VFX).

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