Year 11 girls see the real-world power of maths with Atkins Réalis
Engineering and construction are still industries largely dominated by men.
In December, Bristol WORKS partnered with Atkins Réalis to deliver a Girls Into Maths workshop at Bedminster Down School, bringing together a group of eight Year 11 girls with female volunteers from Atkins Réalis to make maths feel more relevant, more achievable, and more connected to real careers.
This wasn’t a standard careers talk. The session was to boost confidence and show that maths is an important tool for your entire life and career.
What happened on the day
The workshop blended two things that work really well together: role models and hands-on challenges.
- Speed networking helped students meet the volunteers, heard their routes into work, and ask honest questions about different roles.
- Practical activities then brought maths to life through real-world examples linked to engineering, sustainability and planning, giving students the chance to problem-solve in small groups and share ideas back to the room.
Students explored a range of career areas across the AtkinsRéalis team, including project management, surveying, project controls and net zero, with each activity showing how maths shows up in everyday decisions at work.
Why it matters
When a subject feels disconnected from real life, it’s easy to switch off. This session helped students see the “why” behind maths, and vitally, helped them see people like them doing these jobs.
All students were female and six women volunteers, the session created a space where confidence could grow quickly, questions felt easier to ask, and career ideas felt more realistic.
The impact
Student feedback was exceptional:
- 100% said the information was useful
- 100% said they will use it to help make future decisions
- 100% would recommend the workshop to other students and schools
- 100% said their confidence improved as a result of the session
- 87.5% said they felt more informed about careers and post-16 options
What students said
“I was educated on job titles I’ve never heard about before and how to access them, also lots of great information on apprenticeships.”
“Taught me why I need Maths.”
Thank you
A big thank you to Bedminster Down School for hosting, and to Atkins Réalis for bringing a brilliant team of female volunteers who made the session practical, relatable and genuinely motivating.
This is exactly what Bristol WORKS is here to do, build confidence, widen horizons, and help young people see what’s possible.
