These comments are from students, parents, schools, universities and colleagues and have all been received during the past ten years:
“One of the UK’s most highly respected careers advisers.”
“That was the best talk I’ve heard in education for years. It was absolutely brilliant.” (Headteacher, January 2021)
“You have real charisma and passion and it shines through in so many ways.”
“Of all the careers advice I have received over many years, yours has been the most effective.”
“Thanks very much for all your help. It was more than perfect.”
“Thank you so much for all your help. I really can’t thank you enough as I would never have been able to do all this on my own.”
“I am extremely grateful for your fantastic advice and expertise.”
“Thank you for listening and for all your sage advice.”
“We would have been completely lost without you.”
“Thank you for your time, energy and enthusiasm. You are irreplaceable and your expertise is invaluable.”
“Thanks for all the help and guidance you gave me, I couldn’t have done it without you and I can’t wait to start the next chapter!” (Sport Management degree at Loughborough)
“Thank you so much for your incredible help in getting me to the position I am in now, at my first choice uni. I have no doubts that I wouldn’t be in this position without your help.”
“It’s down to your awesome advice that got me onto the incredible course I’m now on.”
“Your talk to our students has proved to be the most popular event we have had over the year.”
“Anything written by @alancareersguru is definitely worth reading.”
“The impact you have had on my daughter is absolutely remarkable. She has spent hours researching and reflecting on her plans and her results have gone up by three grades.”
“Your constant support and expertise really helped in making this decision.” (Now a degree apprentice at a prestigious hotel)
“Thank you for your updated article on ‘UCAS personal statements: applying for a mixture of courses’. It is so helpful to be able to point students to the article to help them develop their thinking around this.”
“Thank you so much for your help last year, I think I would have really struggled going through the application process as an international student with so little help from my school if I hadn’t had your help.”
“The Maths and Computer Science session you held today was incredibly insightful.”
“Thank you so much for all your invaluable guidance these past 4 years with P and L. We really couldn’t have done it without you.” (Rebecca from Paris on behalf of her two daughters, August 2020)
“Alan is seriously the ‘go to’ on all things apprenticeships.” (Careers Adviser at Oxford University)
“Your feedback and positive energy brighten our day.”
“Thanks for all the amazing and thorough work you have done over the years which has been such a benefit to the Careers community.” (From an experienced college Careers Co-ordinator on her retirement)
“It was a delight seeing you in school recently and your advice was incredibly helpful.”
“Many thanks for continuing to inspire and inform our students.”
“I still remember our first discussion in 2017 when you suggested an apprenticeship. It took me a few years to come to my senses but suffice to say you were right all along!” (A Level student with A*A*A* grades)
“Your advice, as always, was invaluable.”
“Your talk has had a wonderful response from parents and students.”
“Thank you so much for your help, I will definitely always remember that it was because of you that I’m here now.”
“Thank you for all your help and support for the students and staff. It is hugely valued and appreciated – you are making a real difference to their confidence and thinking.”
“I wish more people had your passion and energy for making the world a better place and teaching young people to make good decisions!”
“I love it when you come to our school, you always bring so much.”
“There’s always a buzz when you’re in school.”
“Many thanks for your continued expert provision of wisdom, support and encouragement for our students, Alan.”
“Alan’s enthusiasm is contagious. He believes in young people and then they believe in themselves.”
“I would just like to say what an amazing presentation you did at Sussex on Monday and how it was probably the best and most effective I have ever seen.”
“Bubbly and full of information.”
“You really are the gold standard for delivery of careers information.”
“The students hang on your every word.”
“Your passion to help the students is wonderful.”
“Staff and students alike sing your praises and are so grateful for the time and care you put into talking to each group and each individual.”
“Thank you for always being there for me and helping me through all my needs!”
“My daughter’s feedback is fantastic and for that I can’t thank you enough.”
“My son is much more open and enthused since he spoke to you. I think you’re motivating him to work hard and aim for his aspirational grades.”
“Your talk was incredibly well-received by staff and students.”
“You’re brilliant at what you do and I thoroughly enjoyed your session. You made learning such an enjoyable experience.”
“Young people really need you, not only because of the crucial information you share but because of your energy, authenticity and how you connect with your audience.”
“Your advice and guidance in 6th form to not be afraid to follow an unconventional path in spite of what was expected of me, and the support thereafter, has played a huge role in where I am today.” (Now a barrister)
“The students have been raving about how great the day was with you yesterday.”
“Thank you for everything you have done for the school; you have been fantastic and absolutely indispensable.”
“John found your guides (on Which? University) as well as your recommendations really helpful in writing his draft personal statement.”
“Thank you for all of your help throughout the UCAS process. I don’t think that I would’ve been able to do it without your advising!” (A client applying to UK universities from the USA)
“Many many thanks for visiting us and delivering a simply outstanding talk.”
“He absolutely nailed it … he’d done his research and clearly knew the school and what the students needed to hear.”
“Thanks for your excellent contribution to our conference – delegates rated your sessions highly.”
“It has been so valuable and has given him lots of ideas and focus – you have worked your magic again!”
“Really enjoyed your presentation, as always. Love your enthusiasm. It’s infectious. Absolutely excellent.”
“Thank you for delivering such an inspiring session and keynote.”
“We had great feedback from the students – lots wanted the powerpoints and many said they were now thinking of different options, so we are very grateful.”
“Thank you Alan Bullock for the brilliant talk about options at 18!”
“The feedback from the girls was resoundingly positive.”
“Incredibly informative workshops”
“Thank you for your wisdom.”
“You were a breath of fresh air.”
“A few years ago you bowled me over when you came to our school …. your talk was inspirational and showed students, and parents, how to think outside the box. This has left a lasting memory for me.”
“Thanks for being amazing.”
“Alan’s infectious enthusiasm was part of the reason that the evening was such a success! Thanks for inspiring our students, parents and staff!”
“Thank you very much for all the help you gave me with my personal statement. I’m very glad you were the person who helped me and I got an offer the day after I sent it off.”
“I just wanted to say a massive thank you for helping me with my personal statement – there’s no doubt that your advice helped me to get these amazing offers.” (including Cambridge)
“You’ve been such a help and your advice has been brilliant.”
“I’m feeling so much more confident about my personal statement now, you’ve really helped.”
“Alan has been so helpful. I look at people saying their statement is the hardest and most stressful thing they’ve ever had to do and I’m so grateful my experience hasn’t been that way.”
“We will always remain very grateful to you for guiding us through this stage of our lives.”
“Thank you for the huge amount of support you gave us and for finding for a very lost, unhappy boy, something that would motivate him to turn things around and get on with his life. This wouldn’t have happened without your help.”
“Without you, I wouldn’t be where I am now.” (Now working as a doctor in Australia)
“I just want to say a MASSIVE thank you for yesterday. I know how much time and effort went into your talk and, as I knew it would be, it was brilliant.”
“Alan was a fantastic speaker and has inspired me, let alone the pupils.”
“The feedback from both staff and students was overwhelmingly positive.”
“Thank you so much for coming in this week – you made such a difference to the mood, confidence and aspirations of the girls and it was lovely to see them so engaged and excited both that evening and since.”
“Thank you for the talk today, I found it very informative and extremely beneficial.”
“Thank you for your excellent work with us this half term. We are delighted to be partnering with you”.
“As ever lots of positive feedback from parents and pupils.”
“I must offer you my congratulations on a fine piece of work. With access to information and advice of this quality I am not surprised that the students make the sound decisions that I have witnessed over recent years. You provide an essential part of their education and ability to succeed.”
“Thank you so much for all the brilliant help you have given Andrew – not to mention the peace of mind you have given me.”
“You have inspired me and motivated me.”
“Thank you for your presentation today, it was inspirational.”
“Your talks were a huge hit with students and teachers.”
“As ever, it was fantastic to have you here as part of our Careers Week. I hope you know how much we value your input.”
“Alan was very engaging and enthusiastic and we came away feeling re-energised about the work we do.”
“I have found your blog fascinating.”
“A great, engaging workshop on personal statements delivered by @alancareersguru” (Posted on Twitter)
“Thank you for your wonderful talks today, they were inspiring.”
“You deserve a bigger thank you card than this. Thank you for your great help.”
“I will never forget your kindness.”
“Excellent and inspirational.”
“Thank you for opening up all these options to me.”
“Your presentation was very inspirational to me personally and resonated closely with the reasons why I do this work.”
“Thanks Alan, brilliant, what would we do without you?”
“Your session was a breath of fresh air and I found your talk truly fascinating!”
“The students were really buzzing after Alan’s talk.”
“It’s a relief to know we have your help when we need it.”
“Thank you very much for last night’s talk – you were brilliant as per usual.”
“You set me on the right path – more career advisors like you are needed!”
“My career path is in no small way down to your mentoring.”
“Alan’s talk was spot-on, engaging, pertinent and full of excellent practical advice.”
“Just to let you know I got into Bristol to do economics, I am very happy and thankful for all your help!”
“Thank you so much for all your help with applying to UCAS. It’s been a pleasure working on my personal statement with you as it’s such an important part of the application, but working on it with you gave me a lot of confidence and it somehow turned out to be exactly how I wanted it.”
“I can’t thank you enough for all the help and support you have given me over the past few weeks. I am so so happy with my personal statement now.”
“Thanks so much for your help and guidance. I’ve recommended you to friends and wouldn’t hesitate in doing so again.”
“I’m so much happier now and you’ve been such a great help. It can be quite daunting writing your personal statement for the first time, but if you have the right guidance then the job becomes a lot easier, so thank you again.”
“Your careers guy is excellent!” (posted on Twitter)
“Your talks were a rip roaring success!”
“Thank you so much. This has been extremely helpful. Words cannot express my gratitude!”
“We went from feeling very anxious to feeling calm, informed and empowered under Alan’s excellent and tactful guidance – he was a guide and a guru.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed your presentation yesterday and as a new Head of Sixth Form I found it very informative.”
“Your enthusiasm filled the students with confidence and those you saw one-to-one really appreciated your expertise and that you treat each student as an individual with equal dedication.”
“Thank you for your time and efforts you’ve given to help us… we can’t thank you enough, honestly!”
“Just wanted to say thank you for giving that talk today on possible career options for the future, can honestly say it was one of the most helpful and informative two hours I’ve spent.”
“I just wanted to say a massive thank you for yesterday’s presentation. Several of the students have already approached me, really enthusiastic about plans for next year and the opportunities you spoke about.”
“The guy who did the talk on alternatives to university was absolutely amazing – thank you for booking him!”
“He really knows his stuff!”
“Your talk has given me a big burst of energy!”
“Thanks for a great talk”
“Thanks @alancareersguru for 2 inspiring talks to fellow advisers at @sussexuni today” (posted on Twitter)
“Many thanks for another hugely informative, insightful and inspirational talk which has really got our Y12 Post-18 Options programme off with a bang.”
“I want to thank you for being such a great person. So many people could have turned me away at such a vulnerable time after I graduated, but I asked you for advice, my CV, my future. It got me here…!” (now an SEO Executive in London)
“I liked his enthusiastic way of telling us about the personal statement and his gift to inspire us with ideas for it without telling us how to write it.”
“When students were asked if we should invite Alan to speak again next year, 100% said yes.”
“I’m really glad you’re still helping to inspire young people – you rock!” (Cambridge Law graduate)
“Our meetings have benefitted me greatly. I hope you continue helping many people to figure out their future.”
“I just wanted to tell you how brilliant your presentation was today – extremely informative and just the right information I needed.” (Year 10 student in Dubai)
“The advice you sent us proved invaluable – University of Sussex took a chance on our son and last month he graduated with a 2.1 in History & Politics after three very happy years there. Many thanks again.”
“I want to thank you for your guidance and support and for helping me find what path I wanted to follow. I can honestly say I have found my dream job at 18, and I wanted to show my gratitude to you!”
“You’re a Careers rockstar!”
“You’re the best careers adviser in the world!”
“It’s great to be in the Alan club!”
“I came home feeling REALLY inspired.”
“I value your presence in my life.”
“We thank God that you came into our lives.”
This was received in 2022 from someone who reached out to me after some advice I gave her way back in 1998:
“I was at the end of my A-levels and I really didn’t know what to do. It was assumed I would go to university but you identified that I didn’t actually want to go. We discussed apprenticeships and other options and I remember you took the uni pressure off me completely and helped me understand that there were other optioms, which was exactly what I needed. I then joined IBM doing a summer temp job and went on to have a 21 year career there. I’m still in the IT industry and have often told the story about you and the advice you gave me. I’m really not sure what I would have done without it.”
The following comments are all from evaluations of my keynote presentation and workshop at the UCAS national conference in February 2015:
- Very inspiring and grounded in real examples
- Very interesting & informative
- Outstandingly comprehensive knowledge of what is going on
- Always enjoy listening to Alan – great resources to refer to
- He was excellent
- Very enthusiastic and effective speaker, clearly hasn’t lost his passion for careers guidance
- Oozing enthusiasm!
- Great information, would LOVE to get his powerpoint slides!
- Enthusiastic and still passionate about careers guidance!
- His passion and knowledge were immense and inspiring.
And this was from my presentation in Dubai in April 2015:
- “I thought Alan Bullock was an exceptional speaker, really engaging for both children and adults, and full of really relevant information.”
- “I especially enjoyed listening to Mr Alan Bullock – he was lively, extremely informative & encouraging.”
- “I thought the talk at the beginning of the evening on UK universities was so interesting and the speaker was brilliant.”

At one of the annual Study Abroad Fairs run by The Student World, on this occasion at the Business Design Centre in London. I attend these events every year and have developed direct links with a range of overseas universities and advisory organisations. As my Dutch friend and colleague Rob Maat from Windesheim University in Zwolle (NL) said to me: “Internationalization of education worldwide isn’t going to stop”.