On Thursday 29 October, the Parliamentary Studies class visited Parliament. This was no ordinary visit to Westminster however. The trip was planned and organised by the Parliamentary Outreach universities team in collaboration with the course tutor Dr Mark Bennister. The visit is part of the Parliamentary Studies final year module which is being delivered for the first time this year in the Politics programme in a partnership with Parliament. The visit is important part of the course and was tailored to reflect the course content, in particular parliamentary scrutiny and oversight.

Parliamentary Studies students with our alumni.

The early start from Canterbury enabled students to get to Westminster in time to view Transport Questions in the Commons, an International Development Select Committee session and then Questions in the Lords. The morning viewing parliament at work was followed by a series of talks and opportunities to question officials in the afternoon. We are delighted to have six politics alumni currently working for MPs and three of them – Andrew Achilleos, Bronwen Edwards and Amy Hopkinson – came to speak to the group about working for Members of Parliament. This was followed by talks from parliamentary clerks on working in parliament via the fast stream and a question and answer session with House of Lords researchers. The visit proved informative and extensive, covering the recent action of the House of Lords on tax credits as well as some really helpful career advice.