YEAR 11 students at Birchwood High School, Bishop's Stortford, are taking their first steps into the world of work during work experience week.

Deputy head teacher Sally Taylor said: "Education should be about far more than academic success and these work experience placements are an important opportunity for our students to taste what life in the adult world can be like."

Among the more unusual placements this year is Adam Wilkinson, 15, who is working as a recording studio assistant in Wales.