By taking inspiration from what’s around her, Eloise Parr has taken the first steps towards emulating the UK’s most successful engineers.

Eloise, 17, is a student at the WMG Academy for Young Engineers in Coventry, which is part of the University of Warwick. As a result, she’s had the opportunity to work on real life projects with companies such as Jaguar Land Rover and National Grid.

Eloise has a passion for how things are made and how things fit together in the world. She wants to work in the engineering industry and believes growing up in the Midlands has influenced her decision. Eloise said, ‘It’s all around you. You bump into people or know people who are in the automotive industry and you get that experience.’ By joining the WMG Academy, Eloise has been able to explore her interest whilst still gaining mainstream qualifications.

The WMG Academy puts real, business-focused, practical problems and challenges at the centre of the curriculum. Students learn by doing things, making things, designing things and creating things – just like businesses do every day. A number of these businesses, which include Controls and Data Services, have close links with WMG and its Academy.

It’s these links to industry, as well as a hands-on, practical education, that Eloise wouldn’t have been able to appreciate in mainstream education. As she described herself, it’s an experience that’s “unique, supportive and life-changing.”

If you’re interested in following Eloise’s experience of a business-led education, where you solve real problems for real businesses, take a look at the admissions process for 2016.