Faculty of Young People & Widening Participation
Faculty Mission:
To support and raise aspirations of all young people in schools and colleges, to understand and consider the wide range of career opportunities available to them in the Health and Social Care sector.
Faculty Vision:
Young People Participation relates to the ideas of citizenship , personal development and active involvement in society. This faculty hopes to follow the main principles of youth participation by empowering young people, promoting inclusiveness and ensuring purposeful engagement.
Adam Poland
Young People & Widening Participation Exchange Faculty Lead
Adam has many years’ experience in the education sector having been a teacher for 23 years in both mainstream education and the further education sector in a variety of roles from leading departments, whole year groups and gifted and talented programmes. With his background as a Physical Education teacher he has a strong interest in health and fitness and participates regularly in Triathlon events. He is currently Chairman of the Aylesbury Vale Triathlon Club and in addition he is also the elected representative for Aylesbury West to Buckinghamshire Council.

Adam has been the HealthTec Centre Manager since its inception in May 2017 and has steered the centre through its formation to where it is today as one of the UK’s leading Health Career centres. Adam believes in leading an outstanding inclusive student experience, preparing young people and adults to realise their ambition and achieve long-term success in work and life.
He is a passionate supporter of technical, professional and vocational skills, education and training accessible for everyone in Buckinghamshire.
He strongly believes that the work undertaken by the faculty should be at the heart of the Buckinghamshire community, transforming lives, serving employers and driving local and regional economic success and social well-being.
Inspiration Week 2024
Buckinghamshire College Group and BHSCA's other partners have teamed up for a week of inspirational events to provide an insight into the vast and diverse career options available in the Health & Social Care sector.
During Inspiration Week, from 29th January - 2nd February 2024, health and social care education providers opened their doors to pupils from across Bucks with interactive and insightful sessions from University of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire New University, Aylesbury UTC. Buckinghamshire College Group and HealthTec.
BHSCA partnered with Healthwatch Bucks to talk about The Power of Volunteering as part of Inspiration Week.
The above slide details all the ways that the Bucks future workforce of students sees volunteering as beneficial to help grow their skills & experience.
Inspiration Week 2023 was a resounding success; see the below photographs of what entailed.
Where can I study T-Levels?
COMING SOON...
Links to T-Level case studies from other localities:
Work placements
Work placements are typically undertaken as part of a higher education (university) course, and last for longer periods of time - several months/a year. Work placements give students the opportunity to work alongside professionals and to be a part of an organisation. They are typically assessed and count towards academic credit, and are an opportunity for students to put into practice the knowledge learned throughout the course.
vs.
Work experience
Work experience can be referred to as professional experience and is generally for shorter periods of time. Work experience can be done by anyone and is not specifically for students, as work placements typically are.
Work experience offers the opportunity for individuals to experience a profession that does not necessarily relate to the career that person is interested in; to get a 'taste' of what working in a role/organisation might be like.

Buckinghamshire College Group and HealthTec TV are proud to share that applications are now open for the November 2023 cohort of...
The RCN Prince of Wales Nursing Cadet Scheme
Buckinghamshire's College Group's NHS Careers Video
(in collaboration with BHT) has officially launched.
Currently hosted on the BCG website
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