Careers Guidance
We organise a diverse range of enrichment opportunities and provide weekly careers information sessions and personal careers guidance throughout year 12 and 13, to empower and support our students in securing aspirational destinations.
Structured careers programme
In the first two terms of year 12, our careers programme focuses on exposing students to high-quality, relevant opportunities to engage with employers and higher education providers, building the experience needed to support strong applications to universities and apprenticeships.
In the summer term of year 12 and into year 13 we run a structured programme of support, providing one-to-one feedback and guidance for every student to support them through their university and apprenticeship application processes.“The staff have supported me through my future career choices by having conversations and supplying me with websites, information and contacts to help me come to my decision” Bartek, Alumni 2021
Specialist work experience placements
Our careers programme includes supporting our year 12 students to secure a specialist two-week work placement relevant to their chosen post-18 pathway. We designate two weeks of the summer term to ensure pupils can engage with this experience without missing out on teaching.
Past placements include the Government Office for Science, TWI engineering research, UK Power Network, Ralph Lauren, Ashurst international law firm, National Rail, Marie Clair magazine, local nurseries, primary schools, dentist surgeries and care homes.
Access to opportunity led by leading organisations and universities
We’ve built connections with many world-leading universities and organisations that support young people in applying for top universities and higher/degree apprenticeships. Each year we support our students in applying to free summer programmes, taster sessions, online courses and workshops run by these universities and organisations.
Our students have successfully secured places on programmes with leading companies and universities including; Isaac Physics, Sutton Trust, Access Aspiration, Proctor and Gamble, the Social Mobility Fund, Nuffield foundation, In2Science, UCL, Imperial Collage London, London School of Economics and University of Southampton.“Although A-Levels and post-18 decisions can be difficult, teachers make sure to put our needs first when it comes to supporting us. This has made the transition between secondary school and sixth form as smooth as possible.” Samantha, Alumni 2021
Working closely with parents and guardians
We understand the importance of engaging parents and guardians in our careers programme and alongside two parents’ evenings in each academic year, we run parent information evenings to provide parents with the necessary tools and guidance to support their child in preparing for and applying to aspirational post-18 destinations."Staff provide gentle guidance and encouragement, assisting students to work out the right career choices for themselves" Parent of 2022 leaver
For more about careers guidance across the academy see our KS3-5 Careers Guidance Page