Although a college course will give youngsters a good basis for their future employment there is nothing like finding out what it is really like in the outside workplace.

So when the opportunity came for nine students taking an Office Junior Course at Loughborough College to be given the low-down on how a busy office environment works from experienced administrative staff in the town's leading commercial employer it was grabbed eagerly.

Accompanied by their lecturer Judith Wreathall the students visited AstraZeneca R&D Charnwood to hear first hand from secretarial staff in the company's Clinical Operations Department their experiences of life in the busy commercial world and how they organised their daily lives. The students were given a presentation on the work carried out followed by a tour of the AstraZeneca facility.

"This proved a valuable visit for the students building on the work they have done in their studies and will, I am sure, be very beneficial to them" said Judith Wreathall. "We are very grateful to the staff at AstraZeneca for giving us their time."