I regard my time at the University of Chester with great affection. I graduated from the university in 2016 with a first class honours degree in French and History. Studying at Chester provided me with the opportunity to pursue a range of diverse interests, and to learn from genuine subject experts. I spent my third year teaching English in two schools in Saint-Étienne, near Lyon, as a British Council Language Assistant.
Whilst at Chester, I spent lots of time volunteering with a range of schools and community groups - about 5,000 hours in total. As a result of this, and a good degree, I was fortunate to have a number of job offers. I chose to work in an area which I’d felt passionately about for many years – helping schools in disadvantaged communities lead community transformation - and I thoroughly enjoyed my job.
However, I’d always felt that those communities struggled to make their voices heard and wanted to bring my experience of living and working in those communities to policy-making. In 2018, I joined the Civil Service Fast Stream which now takes the top spot in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2019-20.
My first twelve-month posting was as a Finance Policy Manager at the Welsh Government. I worked in the division responsible for developing and maintaining the local taxation system in Wales. I worked on council tax policy and led the development of several high profile policy areas including the removal of the sanction of imprisonment for non-payment of council tax and the introduction of a new exemption for care leavers.
In September 2019, I started my second posting, working as Assistant Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice. Private Office is a fast-paced and exciting environment and provides an opportunity to gain invaluable experience working at the heart of the decision-making process.
I am deeply grateful to to staff at the University of Chester for their unwavering support and am confident that studying at Chester provided me with the best possible start.