Hi, I’m Bea. I graduated with a Bachelor of Music in 2025, having spent three incredible years at Manchester. Today, I work in fundraising. 

How my course prepared me for the world after university 

The great thing about studying music, and especially at Manchester, is the sheer breadth of opportunities you have. I left Manchester having studied video game sound design, early Italian opera, and Georgian and Nigerian choirs, all in the very same building. Having the chance to explore such different areas and develop varied skills was amazing, and it undoubtedly made me more confident taking on dynamic roles in the workplace.

Beyond music itself, another major highlight was taking advantage of SALC’s interdisciplinary modules, which allow you to branch out into entirely different subjects. I took a theology-based module exploring the figure of Eve in the Bible and her legacy in art, media, and pop culture throughout history. It remains my absolute favorite course I took at university, proving just how much freedom you have to follow your curiosity.

My course taught me a whole lot about how I like to learn, and what gave me a sense of purpose. I left the course being able to read and write critically, sing from and translate medieval notation, and electronically manipulate the sounds of bracelet beads into music. Where else can you get that kind of breadth?

Another major plus was the department’s confidence in letting us choose our own paths. By second year, your modules are entirely customisable, giving you the chance to dive deeper into the taster topics you loved in your first year. This was an early opportunity for me to invest in my own future, picking the exact skills and projects I wanted to develop. It taught me how to make informed decisions and recognise what would be most useful, and most enjoyable, for me to do. It’s an attitude I’ve brought directly into the working world: making sure I’m advocating for myself to do things that I genuinely enjoy and that make a real impact.

Beyond the lecture hall

It isn’t just your course that gives you the skills and experiences you’ll take forward into your career. During my three years at Manchester, I took on roles in two society committees and worked as a designer for The Mancunion, the university newspaper.

Taking on these roles gave me the chance to collaborate with new people, try my hand at practical challenges like event organisation and layout design, and ultimately made my university experience so much richer and broader. Beyond building a well-rounded set of skills that made me far more adaptable in job applications, it’s where I made some of my best friends and truly grew.

How I got to my current role

Leaving university with the knowledge of the looming career challenge in front of me was tough. I had been applying for graduate roles throughout my final year, with no luck, and I had no real idea of what I actually wanted to do. With a music degree, there are so many potential routes – which can sometimes feel impossible to navigate. 

Initially, I sprayed out a massive wave of applications for everything from music industry roles to marketing and journalism. Job searching felt isolating, with so many options that you don’t know where to look or where you fit. Eventually, though, I started slanting almost exclusively towards the charity sector and fundraising.  I naturally gravitated toward these roles because they matched the broad skill set I’d developed on my course, and because the work felt meaningful. Knowing a role would help make lives better gave me a vital sense of direction when I wasn’t sure of my exact destination. 

Where I truly succeeded was in finding my niche. By pairing my previous experience in part-time tutoring with the strong communication and writing skills I built at university, I found a wealth of opportunities within education and youth-focused charities. Having that guiding compass brought me to my current role, where I’ve quickly developed a genuine love for what I’m doing. 

My current role in fundraising

Today, I am the Fundraising Administrator in the Fundraising and External Relations department at the Harris Federation, a multi-academy trust of 59 academies across London and Essex. It’s a fast-paced, diverse workload, but it is incredibly rewarding to see the direct impact of our work every single day. No two days are ever the same: I could be designing a website, creating impact reports for donors, writing funding bids, planning alumni events, or managing donation records and budgets. I absolutely love how varied the role is and how many practical skills I’m building along the way. At its core, our team exists to fund opportunities that go far beyond standard education, ensuring that every student, regardless of their socioeconomic background, is learning in the conditions needed to build a future worthy of their ambitions.

Lately, I’ve also been supporting the launch of our newly registered charity, The Opportunity Trust, which has been an amazing learning curve in charity law, governance, branding and publicity, and how high-level decisions are made to create maximum impact for young people. 

Crucially, my job still involves music! Performing arts are a huge focus for us. Recently, I got to support backstage at the Harris Festival of Music — a professional-level production held at Fairfield Halls in Croydon, featuring over 1,000 Harris students. It was astounding to see what these young people can achieve on a professional stage.

A personal highlight of my work is regularly writing funding bids for subsidised music tuition and instruments for schools. If you’re considering studying music at university, you already know how transformative access to music education can be, but how limited access is now because of rising cost of living and restricted education budgets. Having experienced my own struggle finding a school that offered Music A-Level, creating equity in access to creative opportunities for young people is a particularly rewarding stream of work. 

Looking back, so much of what I did at university prepared me for this exact work. My design and creative skills, built while working with student societies and the campus newspaper, now help me craft engaging fundraising materials, videos, and social media. The versatile writing I sharpened by writing across diverse academic topics and music journalism allows me to adapt my writing style for grant applications, donors reports or internal comms. Beyond that, the confidence and independence fostered by the freedom of my degree gave me the self-assurance to manage my own workload and step into new challenges – while my understanding of musical access, informed by my time at Manchester, gives me an authentic voice when bidding for arts funding.

By letting my skills guide me rather than sticking to a rigid plan, I found a career I truly love. I knew I would enjoy the job and that I was capable of doing it, but I didn’t expect to so quickly discover a long-term career path that excites me so much already. 

Support at Manchester & advice for offer holders 

Looking back, the environment at Manchester played a huge part in getting me here. The sheer breadth of the course gives you the space to explore new things and the confidence to advocate for yourself. Taking advantage of SALC’s (School of Arts, Languages and Cultures) interdisciplinary modules and getting involved in societies and student media meant I was constantly meeting new people, picking up fresh skills, and learning outside my comfort zone.

On top of that, the department staff are amazing – helpful, approachable, and genuinely invested in you. That supportive culture mirrors the exact environment I’m lucky to have in my team at work now. University gives you independence, but at Manchester, there is always a community of people genuinely willing to help you succeed.

If I could give one piece of advice to university offer holders, it’s this: while enjoying yourself and exploring your interests, give yourself permission to change your mind.

If you told my first-year self that by third year I’d willingly write 10,000 words on Monteverdi opera, or that in second year I’d go straight from a 10am lecture on Georgian Choirs to a 12pm workshop on video game sound design, I wouldn’t have believed you. Embrace the unexpected turns, they’re often where you find what you love most.

Written by Bea Pengelly, a BA Music (2025) graduate

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