The 'Get a Grip' conference for year 12 Intermediate students, held at The University of Northampton on 23rd November 2005, was attended by 75 students and 5 members of staff. The day started with a presentation from the motivational speaker Kevin Mincher, aimed at raising the students' confidence and self-esteem. Kevin started the process of goal setting with the students and used his own life experiences to emphasise that the students should aim high and believe in themselves. Some of the student comments about this session were: "It gave me the push I needed to sort out what I wanted to do" "The guy at the start interested me and made me see that I was not a failure" "It was relevant to what I was thinking and made me realise that it wasn’t just me dealing with these problems (like wanting to change and change your thinking)" "I hang around with a lot of people with no self esteem, myself being one of them and I find that this really helps and will carry on the message passed on to us and may encourage others to buy the book" This session was followed by looking at progression routes from level 2 qualifications through to level 4. Students were given information about opportunities to study qualifications locally up to degree level in the subjects which interested them. After enjoying lunch in the student canteen the students took part in two workshops looking at applying for jobs and preparing for the interview.