The Magic of Maths

The March ‘Perspectives’ lecture invited three Old Boys to speak about their diverse careers using Mathematics and Statistics. They recounted their respective experiences, discussed the range of career choices within the industry and noted the character traits and skills required to succeed.

Shouma Khan (Class of 1991) is the Chief Financial Officer for Nexus Studios, a highly regarded animation studio based in both London and Los Angeles. Shouma studied Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Bristol and he has gone on to have a career working in accounting and finance roles across FMCG and media companies. Prior to joining Nexus, Shouma worked for EY, Mars Confectionery, Disney, CNN and a retro-gaming start-up. In his presentation, Shouma described how his strengths lay within statistics which helped shape the path of his career, and how his strong understanding of data benefited him when entering the world of business.

Tom Cowling (Class of 2011) left Bolton School with A Levels in Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Economics and Physics and went on to study Economics at Durham University. After graduating, he applied for a range of roles from asset management through to accountancy; in his presentation he assured the audience that they should not worry about having a clear career path defined at an early age. After some consideration, Tom started his career as an actuarial analyst at Grant Thornton in London before joining Markel International, a London market insurer, to complete his actuarial exams. His current role focuses on setting reserves for insurance products, covering a wide range of risks from racehorses to accidents on oil rigs – “using maths to predict the future”. Tom’s family is well acquainted with Bolton School, with his siblings Toby (2013), Hal (2017) and Sally (2020); father Charles (1981); and cousins Emily (2011), Daisy (2014) and Rupert (2019) studying here.

Shivam Patel (Class of 2019) studied Mathematics, Optimisation and Statistics at Imperial College London after enjoying Mathematics, Further Mathematics and Physics A levels in the Boys’ Division. He started his career as a data analyst, but moved to work for a start-up as a software developer. Shivam highlighted that the skills he developed whilst studying for a mathematics degree can be applied to many careers, echoing the sentiment raised by Shouma. In his spare time, Shivam volunteers for the National Hindu Students’ Forum (UK). Both Shivam’s mother, Neelam (1989) and brother Hiren (2015) studied at Bolton School and his sister, Krupa, is currently studying in the Sixth Form. Shivam says his experience at Bolton School has given him so much more than an education, “a holistic experience with sports, music and so many other opportunities outside the normal curriculum. The soft skills I gained have helped me so much at university and my career”.

‘Perspectives’ is a series of free, public lectures hosted by Bolton School on Zoom. They are free to attend and open to pupils in Year 10 and above, parents, Alumni, and all other members of the School and local community. If you would like to volunteer your time to support with the careers and enrichment initiative, please contact the Development Office.

All of the ‘Perspectives’ lectures are available to watch on the School’s YouTube channel.

A to Z of Careers

This newly-established series of monthly talks aims to provide pupils across the Divisions with an extensive insight into a range of sectors thanks to inspiring talks from Old Boys and Old Girls.

To date, Year Groups 10 to 13 have learned about careers in the Army, Business, the Civil Service, Dentistry and Engineering. Thank you to Lewis Kemp (Class of 2009),

MedSoc

With increasing numbers of Bolton School pupils considering a career in the medical sciences, MedSoc is a thriving extracurricular club.

CEO of company Lightbulb Media, Rebecca Whyte (Class of 2004) who works for the Elections Team in the Scottish Government, NHS Dentist Zuhair Patel (Class of 2015) and Michael Wallwork (Class of 1989), President of Renold plc, who have given inspiring presentations about their respective industries and hosted Q&A sessions.

Over the coming months careers representing the remainder of the alphabet will be featured, helping current pupils to make informed choices about their futures.

Aspiring doctors have recently heard from GP Ashish Chaudhry (Class of 1999), medical student Jake Rajbhandari (Class of 2017), Andrew Bird (Class of 1989), who works for pharmaceutical company Acino in the UAE and Tim Overton (Class of 1980), a consultant in obstetrics and fetal medicine.