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12 AS Level Business Studies students have competed in the North West heat of the BASE competition, held in Garstang.

Students volunteered to take part in the event which is the ICAEW’s national Business, Accounting and Skills Education competition for students aged 16-19. The students were required to engage in a challenging business game that enabled them to develop key employability skills and understand what it’s like to be an ICAEW Chartered Accountant.

The competition was a chance for the students to meet with industry experts, such as accountants and business owners, and to complete a presentation based on a case study for a nominated company.

The Carr Hill students were split into two teams of six and competed against 10 sixth forms and colleges from across the North West region. Each group was given a mentor for the day to help them to decide on, and develop, their recommendations for the case study they had been given.

Students were not afforded any time to prepare for the competition prior to their arrival. They were simply given the task on the day and just two hours to decide on their recommendations and create a presentation which was delivered to a room of 100 people, including a judging panel made up of industry experts.

The Carr Hill teams worked incredibly hard and their presentations were impressive, so much so that one of the teams made it through to the final four, beating 12 other teams and narrowly missing out on a place at the national finals.

Business Studies teacher Mr Mitchell arranged for Carr Hill to compete in the competition. He said: “The competition was a great chance for the students to immerse themselves in the business world and build their workplace skills ready for when they leave the school for work or university. The students were required to dress in business wear and judged on their professional attitude as well as their natural business ability.

“The students found it to be a very positive and educational activity. Carr Hill will certainly be getting involved again next year.”

Year 12 student, James, was one of the pupils to take part in the competition. James said: “I decided to sign up as I felt it would look good on my CV. I really enjoyed the competition and the chance to analyse and suggest improvements for a business. The event felt very real and the fact we were presenting in front of industry experts really spurred us on to do our best.”

In addition to the exercise and presentation, students were also given the opportunity to meet staff from a range of business and accounting companies including AAT, KPMG and CLB Coopers during a mini recruitment fare. Students were given information on different apprenticeship and training options as well as details about university based routes into the industry.

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CARR HILL STUDENTS ACE BASE COMPETITION

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