‘Working with the police wasn't something I'd imagined I do' - our scholar Alicia on her employability placement with the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner READ NOW

Justin’s story: a career as an accountant

Justin successfully graduated with a First degree and wanted to become an accountant. Through our Employability project, we were able to secure him a paid, month-long internship in the Cabinet Office in Whitehall, working in the minister’s private office. He was able to use this experience in his application for a place on the graduate training schemes of one of the big accountancy firms. And it brought results. Justin was the first-ever Longford Scholar to be accepted onto such a programme, where he thrived. He is now the chief accountant at a big construction company. Watch Justin describing how his life has turned around.


Sian’s story: going into the third sector

Our 2024 graduate Sian was 26 and had a successful career in finance when a night out at the bingo catapulted her into a gambling addiction so strong that it ultimately saw her jailed. With our help she graduated in criminology and psychology and landed a graduate-level post with the Beacon Charitable Trust, the charity she credits with saving her life by breaking her own addiction. Read Sian’s story.


Will and Doug: going into the creative arts

A man on a green hill in Italy looking at the viewGraduate scholars Will and Doug successfully applied for two travelling scholarships we offer each autumn as part of Employability to attend the week-long prestigious Haven for Stories writers’ retreat in Umbria (right). Both have written about the experience and how it has know propelled their careers forward, one as a poet and the other as a photographer.


  • Our graduate Kyle is a software developer at a London tech firm
  • Our graduate Tim works for a penal reform charity
  • Our graduate David is a freelance journalist, writing regularly for The Spectator
  • Our graduate CJ works on a violence reduction programme
  • Our graduate Elliot is a senior manager in the criminal justice sector

Lee’s story

Turning Sentences Into Degrees