Careers Advice and Guidance

We aim to raise aspirations, challenge stereotypes and encourage pupils to consider a wide range of careers.

Through careers education and guidance it is hoped that pupils will be encouraged to make the most of their talents and to go on to careers or further/higher education which will suit their interests, needs and abilities.

In particular we intend our pupils to:

• Develop a broad understanding of the world of work and an ability to respond to changing opportunities
• Develop independent research skills so that they can make good use of information and guidance
• Develop and use their self-knowledge when thinking about and making choices
• Develop the skills they need to review achievements, plan future actions, make decisions, present themselves well and cope with change and transition.

We recognise that the process of making career decisions is a lengthy one and that most of our pupils will make their final choices only after completing their higher education course.

Our careers provision begins as early as Year 8 with visitors to school offering talks and workshops. In Year 9 all pupils have one-to-one careers guidance through our external, impartial careers advisors, Inspiring Futures. This is supported by a unit of work on careers investigation in PSHE. This all forms part of the GCSE options selection process.

In Year 10 all pupils have the opportunity to opt into Careers Profiling provided by Futurewise which entitles the student to a one-to-one profiling meeting and subsequent tailored careers advice until they are 24 years of age. This again is supported by work in PSHE in Years 11-13 and works well with our specialist support for UCAS applications.

In the Sixth Form all students have the option of tailored mock interviews by external providers which our students find extremely useful prior to university interviews. This is followed up by personal support from both tutors and the Head of Sixth Form.

Finally, all students from Years 9-13 are invited to our Annual Careers Convention in the spring term. This is a marketplace style event held in school on an evening. This year there were representatives from over ten universities and a wealth of careers and professions, from Law to Engineering, Medicine to Digital Commerce. This is a wonderful opportunity to gather information on career requirements, pathways into the profession, salary expectations and progression. It also offers a fantastic chance to network and make contacts for possible work experience and for future advice.