A FORMER Level 3 engineering student at Cronton Sixth Form is in celebratory mode after landing her dream job at one of the world's largest and most respected centres for scientific research in Switzerland.

Abigail Lee dreamed of working at CERN after a Cronton College trip in 2017 where she was able to tour the facility, meet scientists and see the Large Hadron Collider which is the world's largest energy particle collider and largest machine in the world.

She said: “I really enjoyed the trip and dreamed of working there one day. I decided to apply for job positions at CERN and when I wasn’t successful at first I started to think working at a place like that wouldn’t happen for me.”

The former Penketh High School pupil was then unexpectedly contacted on LinkedIn by the CERN team who were impressed with her application and thought she would be perfect for their ‘Technician Training Experience (TTE)’ programme which provides fully paid invaluable work experience at the world famous facility and opens up a host of career opportunities.

She added: “I didn’t think the message was real at first but after speaking with them I realised this was an opportunity I just couldn’t miss. I decided to accept the position and will begin in May. CERN have been very helpful with finding accommodation in Switzerland and I am really looking forward to starting.”

Abigail’s finished her engineering course with Triple Distinction Star grades and was even awarded Engineering Student of the Year at Cronton for her outstanding effort.

She continued: “The support I received at Cronton was outstanding. I initially studied A Levels at another college but after my first year I decided A Levels were not the right path for me. I was impressed with Cronton’s IDEA Centre facilities and decided to enrol on their Level 3 Engineering course which was definitely the right choice."

Sonia Tandon, Abigail’s Engineering Tutor at Cronton added that the team at the IDEA Centre are extremely proud of her achievements and wish her the very best at CERN and in all her future endeavours.