I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I was small, and now I’m literally living my dream career. I teach English full-time at Nescot, working with teenagers and adults and teaching across all the levels, from Functional Skills to GCSE. I feel really privileged to be doing what I love, and the support I have here is amazing. A few years ago I was working in administration at a council, and I ended up helping a colleague by covering a class helping adults with their IT skills. It reignited my passion for teaching, and when I thought about it I realized there was nothing stopping me from getting a qualification as an adult. I looked around for courses and I saw that Nescot offered a range of different options. I started with the Level 3 Education and Training qualification, which was one evening a week for 10 weeks. My tutor said I’d make a good teacher and encouraged me to apply for the Post-Graduate Certificate of Education, or PGCE, and she even told me about a bursary I could apply for. I studied full-time for a year, having lessons two days a week and doing a placement for three days. I really liked the structure of the course, because it was a good balance between learning the theory and ideas and then being able to put that into practice ourselves. We talked in classes about what had worked well on our placements, and we all helped and supported each other with new ideas to try. I also did my maths GCSE at Nescot. It was great to be able to do both qualifications at the same time, and being a maths student gave me even more experience of how people learn and how to help them.

I’m a big cat keeper at The Big Cat Sanctuary in Smarden in Kent. I’m responsible for the care and management of the animals, which include tigers, leopards, jaguars, lions, cheetahs and pumas. It’s a really varied job, which includes feeding the cats, maintaining their enclosures, and getting involved with guest experiences. It’s amazing to be able to build relationships with such incredible species, and my favourite part of what I do is training the cats for simple medical procedures. I started my Level 3 in Animal Management at Nescot in 2005. After that I went to Hadlow College, where I did a Foundation Degree in Animal Conservation and Biodiversity, and then on to the University of Roehampton for a top-up degree in Zoology. Nescot was a lot of fun, but we all worked really hard. I learnt a lot of theory in a massive range of topics, and the experience I got working on the farm was really useful. My favourite unit was probably Collection Management, but I still remember the things I learnt on Breeding and Genetics modules too. We went out to visit zoos a few times, which helped me to think about my career options. I always knew I wanted to work with big cats. In my career so far I’ve worked at a private zoo in Dubai and then Paradise Wildlife Park in Hertfordshire, as well as volunteering at Chessington Zoo from Year 11. My advice to students is to work really hard at college, because that knowledge and experience on the farm will get you a long way. Don’t expect things to fall into your lap, but if you know what you want to do then just go for it. There’s no substitute for practical experience, so do as much work experience and as many internships as you can. One of the best things about working with animals is that you never stop learning.

I’m a trainee zookeeper at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire. I started my job in 2015, after finishing my Level 3 Animal Management course at Nescot with a triple distinction. I’m doing an additional qualification alongside my job, and soon I’ll be fully qualified as a zookeeper. The best thing about being a zookeeper is how varied it is. In a typical day I could be doing anything from feeding animals to helping train them for procedures, maintaining enclosures, or mucking out. I live at the zoo, which I love because you get to be involved at a closer level. For example, you might be called on to help with an animal arriving at the zoo late at night after it’s been transported from another zoo, or you might need to look after an animal that needs special care. I work with all kinds of animals, from brown bears to tigers, but my favourite animal to work with is a camel. The best thing about studying at Nescot was getting to work on the farm. I’d advise any students who want to become zookeepers to really make the most of the farm, because what you learn is so transferable. The farm is like a small version of a zoo, and a lot of the techniques you use are the same. For example, the units I studied on Anatomy, Biology and Biochemistry and the practical skills I learnt helping catching sheep and lambing still help me in my day-to-day job now. While I was at Nescot I did work experience at Chessington Zoo, and I also had a part-time job looking after reptiles at a garden centre. My tutors always encouraged me to push myself, and I’d tell anyone studying Animal Management the same thing. I always knew I wanted to work with exotic animals, either in conservation or as a zookeeper, and I feel really lucky that my first job is at Whipsnade.