Careers/University

Diocesan’s Career Development Centre provides guidance and career education to enable students to make informed decisions about their future pathways. Our aim is to ensure every girl makes an effective transition to the world of further education, work and training.

Career support for Senior Students

60% of the jobs that our current students will end up doing don't even exist yet. Planning for the future is about the ‘next best step’ for our students and our aim is to make sure the first step they take away from Dio is the best possible one for them.
Our careers team offers support and guidance to all students and parents at every level with option choices and subject planning. Students in years 12 and 13 visit the Career Development Centre regularly and the careers advisors work closely with students and their parents to ensure that the girls are on the right track for what lies ahead.

Higher education

Higher education is the primary destination for many Diocesan students with 95% transitioning directly to university after year 13, and the remaining 5% embarking on a gap year, most often with the intention to go to university at a later date.

Some of our services include

Facilitating students’ career decision-making through individual and group counselling
Providing career education programmes that give girls the knowledge and skills to self-manage their careers throughout their lives
Supporting staff and curriculum areas by providing special opportunities and specialist speakers to provide links between academic courses and real life situations
Supporting students to participate in a range of experience days in tertiary and other institutions

Assisting students in making the transition from school to tertiary training, work or other options including CV and interview skills, university preparation and applications
Coordinating references for accommodation, scholarships and university courses in NZ and overseas

Providing support and guidance to students planning gap years
Our careers advisors have visited top universities in the United Kingdom and the United States and are very experienced in how to access scholarships and enrolments to prestigious universities anywhere in the world. This has resulted in our girls securing enrolments and scholarships to Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, Hong Kong to name just a few

We have students that have gone on to attend Universities around the world including

Our past students

Piper Whitehead

University of Cambridge

Since graduating from Diocesan, I have gone on to study History of Art at Pembroke College, Cambridge. This is a very selective course with only around 24 students chosen each year, and it is not something I would have ever considered even applying to had I not been able to take Art History as an option in Year 13. The course involves in depth study of art and architecture from a wide variety of different eras. We’re able to view and sometimes handle much of the art we study for ourselves, as the course builds off the extensive collections and buildings in Cambridge itself, and also involves numerous trips to museums in the rest of the UK and even Europe.

The wide range of subject options available at Dio prepared me well for university, as I had experience in my course, which many students around the world do not have the opportunity to study in high school. At Cambridge I have also been able to pursue my extra-curricular commitments which Dio helped me to nurture. Since arriving at here I have directed numerous theatre productions and represented Cambridge at the World University Debating Championships alongside numerous other domestic tournaments. My experience taking drama as a school subject and debating competitively for Dio positioned me well to involved in all aspects of university life.

Libby Johnston

Manhattan School of Music

Recent Dio Old Girl, Libby Johnston, is now one giant step closer to achieving her dreams of Broadway stardom, after being awarded a Presidential Scholarship of up to US$80,000 at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music. Selected from over 3,000 auditionees, 18 year old Libby will move to New York later this year to commence her Bachelor of Music in Musical Theatre.

Libby says she can't remember a time when she didn't want to perform. The highly talented youngster not only acts, sings and dances, but also plays the piano and the viola. She says her biggest highlight was playing Liesl von Trapp in the New Zealand national tour of "The Sound of Music" in 2017 and she has a list of performing achievements to her name - being awarded the Best Performer in the University of Otago Shakespeare Festival in 2017; and being the Under 18 Champion of the New Zealand Aria Competition in 2016.

She was also the leader of Dio's elite choir St Cecilia Singers in Year 13 "which was a dream come true as choral singing and The Big Sing competition was a hugely significant part of my identity throughout high school", says Libby. Talent runs in the family and Libby will be performing with her younger sister, Hattie, in the National Youth Theatre Company's production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats", and will be playing the lead role, Grizabella, on the closing night (Saturday 23rd June at 7pm - tickets on sale via Ticketmaster).

Libby has already had a taste of New York life, after spending three weeks in the city as part of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) high school summer programme in 2015. The highly talented youngster was also accepted into Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Elon University, Pace University, Marymount Manhattan College and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy but chose the Manhattan School of Music primarily because of the fact that it's a music conservatory, not a college.

Well done Libby, a great example of Dio girls going places!

Alisha Huang

New York University’s Stern School of Business

After graduating Diocesan School for Girls, I was accepted to New York University’s Stern School of Business. I will be commencing my studies in August and I intend on majoring in marketing and economics, with a minor in psychology. I began my application process in year 13 and it required me to sit an American Standardized testing examination, construct two personal essays, as well as submit supporting evidence to the university. With a record low acceptance rate of 19% this year, I was very fortunate and absolutely thrilled when I found out I had been accepted to my dream school.

My interest in business sparked after taking economics as a subject in year 11 and so I took on the opportunities at Dio to further my learning such as taking scholarship economics, as well as being involved with the Monetary Policy Challenge for 2 years. However, as an avid dancer, studying in New York City provided me with the best of both worlds: a platform to further my academic study, as well as an opportunity to continue pursuing my dance dreams. I had always dreamed of studying in the US and one day dancing with the Rockettes, but it wasn’t until I attended the Rockettes Summer Intensive in NYC last year and performed on the stage of NYU Skirball Theatre that I realized this dream was one I wanted to chase! I began writing my essays on my plane ride home and the rest of Year 13 was an absolute blur!

I was very blessed to have had the support of amazing teachers at Dio that helped me every step of the way, in particular, my English and economics teachers who wrote references to support my application. My careers counsellor, Mrs Birdsall, was incredibly supportive every step along the way and I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish all this without them. I look forward to the new challenges and opportunities that New York will bring!

Courtney Mallon

AFTRS (Australian Film, Television and Radio School)

I am currently studying film at AFTRS (Australian Film, Television and Radio School), doing a bachelor of Screen Production. The application process involved an 1000 word personal statement, a review on a film or TV program and a portfolio piece; I handed in my Year 13 media project. Shortly after submitting this I was one of 85 students to be accepted into the school which is based in Sydney.

After the excitement of being accepted the reality set in and the idea of moving countries, knowing no one, was daunting. I had to take a leap of faith and it did not take long to settle into the Sydney life. From a young age I enjoyed editing together silly films with my friends and playing around with the camera, that’s basically what led me to have a passion in film, but I think it wasn't until the senior school that I decided I wanted a career in film and to study it at University.

Throughout my final years at Dio, I took the subjects Media Studies as well as Design and spent many hours in the media department getting as involved as I could. With the skills I learnt and the constant support of my teachers I felt confident and I was prepared to move forward.

Meen Treewattanasuwan

Victoria University

Meen Treewattanasuwan (Former Dio International Student, DVC Dio Scholar 2016) is studying architectural design at Victoria University. She was recently awarded the NZIA Central Innovation Student Design Award YEAR 1Winner. A huge honour and recognition as the top Year 1 student at Victoria.