Information for Students

Our school careers programme aims to make sure that you all have:

Knowledge of the range of careers, how they are connected to the subjects you are learning, what skills are involved, and how they impact the world.
Awareness of all paths; qualifications and training routes, to all careers, so you can make an informed decision from all available paths and resulting careers.
Skills that will help you be successful in taking up further education and employment opportunities as you go through life.
Experience and a clear understanding of the working world.
A culture of high aspirations, equality of opportunity and willingness to challenge stereotypes.

The Careers programme in school includes the following:

Careers education sessions in tutor time and dedicated careers lessons as part of the PSHE programme.
Work shadowing and work experience opportunities.
Visits from employers to give talks, assemblies and provide activities.
Career related school trips.
Visits from colleges and universities to talk about their opportunities.
Careers fairs.
Learning in lessons what your subject may lead to and what skills you are learning that will be useful in the work place.
1:1 careers meetings with a qualified advisor to discuss your plans.
Support for when you choose your GCSE options and then when you decide what you would like to do after year 11 or 13.

Broadly speaking your careers education will build on your knowledge as you go through the school.

Year 7 – you will find out what we mean by the word career and then you will start to find out about all the different jobs there are.

Year 8 – you will start to think about you, your interests and how those might be relevant to your future career.

Year 9 – you will start to think about your GCSE options and how you make decisions about which subjects to take.

Year 10 – you will start to think about what you might like to do after year 11. We hold a Post 16 morning to talk to you about the different options.

Year 11 – you will do some more research about your options and also have a careers meeting with a qualified advisor to help you put together a plan of your next steps.

Year 12 and year 13 – you will start to research your options for after you leave school; it might be university, an apprenticeship, employment or gap year and School will support you with your plans.

You can see the detailed programme in the attachment below and see what will be happening in your year.

What can I do if I need help?

There are lots of people in school who can help with your future plans. Here are some ideas:

Your tutor can help you think about your strengths and what you are good and what you may need to develop.
Your subject teachers can help you see what jobs their subject may lead to and what skills you are developing in lessons.
You can ask for a meeting with the School careers advisor Mrs Elliot who provides impartial, independent careers advice and guidance.

You can email her at [email protected] or pop into the Careers Office which is on the ground floor of the Turing centre. This is a good opportunity for you to think through your ideas and thoughts even if you think you are very unsure.

The type of things that you can talk about are:

Exploring specific careers ideas.
Thinking about your skills and what you might like to develop.
Understanding what options and pathways there are and finding out how to go about getting there.
Help with applications for courses including college and university courses and apprenticeships.

Useful Resources

Please find below useful resources to help you in the following ways:

General resources which cover a wide range of topics
Resources about the pathways that are open to you
More specialist resources related to specific jobs and careers

General Resources

Revisit Unifrog to give you ideas about which jobs, apprenticeships or Higher Education courses may suit you. You can retake the quizzes and the careers and subject libraries are really helpful. If you need any help with this, see Mrs Elliot.

https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/ This is a good place to find out more information about different careers by using the Job Profiles section

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/ > Careers Advice>What can I do with my degree?

https://targetjobs.co.uk/ Look at the Careers Guides and Publications and top 300 companies

Career and employability information and tools https://www.kent.ac.uk/careers/career-planning/i-want-to-work-in

Volunteering: https://www.doit.life/

Work Experience:

Springpod is an excellent source of virtual work experience https://www.springpod.com/

Also see https://www.theforage.com/ and https://barclayslifeskills.com/help-others/work-experience/

Lincolnshire Talent Academy provides both in-person and virtual work experience in healthcare careers in Lincolnshire https://lincstalentacademy.org.uk/work-experience/

Future Pathways

Post 16

Explore your next steps: https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/information

Useful information provided by the Russell Group: https://www.informedchoices.ac.uk/

When thinking about subject choices for selective universities our link college Christ’s College Cambridge run regular ‘Subject Matters’ webinars which give useful guidance on subject combinations https://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/open-days-prospective-applicants/webinars

If considering apprenticeships you can look at https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship to get an idea of availability.

https://www.tlevels.gov.uk/ for more information about T levels and where you can study them

Information on post 16 options in Lincolnshire: https://www.thefuturefocus.co.uk/students/options-at-16-level-3/

Post 18

Higher Education

Apply for Higher Education courses in the UK: https://www.ucas.com/

The Uni Guide: Compare universities in the UK: https://www.theuniguide.co.uk/

Admissions Tests: https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/applying-university/admissions-tests

Open Days: https://www.opendays.com/ and https://www.unitasterdays.com/

Statistical information: you can compare student satisfaction, graduate employment https://discoveruni.gov.uk/

Finance

https://www.gov.uk/get-undergraduate-student-loan

Search for scholarships and bursaries: https://www.thescholarshiphub.org.uk/

Alternatives to University

Options if you decide not go to university: https://notgoingtouni.co.uk/?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIq7O16OTihgMVXpVQBh1q8wZ8EAAYASAAEgKkZ_D_BwE

Gap year advice: https://independentgapadvice.org/

Help with job applications: https://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice

Local employers’ contact details: https://www.yell.com/

You can find more information on the apprenticeship and applying to university tabs and also in the sixth form area here.

Careers Specific Recommended Websites

Please see the attached document below for more information.