Careers Guidance
Our approach to careers guidance
We have based our approach to careers provision on the Gatsby (Good Career Guidance) Report 2014, commissioned to look at what career guidance in England would be like if it were considered good by international standards, and the CDI’s Career Development Framework.
The Gatsby Report outlines eight key points which form the basis for our delivery model:
The eight benchmarks of Good Career Guidance
- A stable careers programme.
- Learning from career and labour market information.
- Addressing the needs of each pupil.
- Linking curriculum learning to careers.
- Encounters with employers and employees.
- Experiences of workplaces.
- Encounters with further and higher education.
- Personal guidance.
We are incredibly grateful to the extra support and expertise we are able to draw on from the University of Birmingham, the careers and outreach teams, alumni, and all who make our offer so exciting. We are also thankful for our corporate partners, parents/carers, and community members who help make the world of work real.
A Stable Careers Programme
Our careers advice, information, education and guidance plan is monitored regularly as part of the School Improvement Plan, and reviewed yearly to make sure we are in line with current practice. We are supported by the Careers and Enterprise Company, University of Birmingham Careers Network and Outreach teams, and our School Careers (CEIAG) Manager, Mr S Huckstep.
You can view our Careers Programme Overview here.
To find out more, discuss careers provision, or get involved, please contact Mr Huckstep via careers@uobschool.org.uk or call 0121 796 5000.
Learning from Career and Labour Market Information (LMI)
By working with experts in the fields of FE, HE, employment and training, we can ensure we are up to date in giving current advice and guidance to our pupils, students, staff, and parents/carers. We are also guided by trends and patterns that are shared by labour market experts such as Market Birmingham, STEM groups, and by actions identified by the Department of Education (for example, having access to apprenticeships and training offers).
Pupils, students, and parents/carers will also have access to the Unifrog careers platform which helps with exploring interests (including specific Labour Market Information – LMI), recording skills and experiences, finding education and training opportunities, and drafting applications.
If you are a pupil/student or parent/carer, please contact careers@uobschool.org.uk if you need assistance with access to the Unifrog platform or require support with use.
Addressing the needs of each pupil and student
Whilst striving for our pupils and students to have high aspirations and meet the requirements of the best universities and employers, we will always offer impartial advice and guidance for those wishing to take different paths. Whilst benefiting from our partnership with the University of Birmingham, we will also work with other FE and HE providers, trainers, and employers in the local and national areas to share information about the wealth of careers and learning pathways available.
Through a broad Learning for Life (L4L) programme, including bespoke units of work for each year group, assemblies, and opportunities to meet with employers from different sectors, we will continue to broaden the horizons of our young people and make sure they have the necessary skills, experiences, and characterstics to be ready for the career of their choice.
Linking Curriculum Learning to Careers
As part of their subject development plans, all departments promote the relevance of their subjects to careers. Many departments have displays relating to careers visible in their corridors. All subjects promote study of their subject at University or through employment. By keeping up to date with changes to the future of work, teachers will be better able to see the value of their subject in terms of knowledge and skills, and actively and explicitly link these to teaching. Below are some useful links for teaching staff to help them teach about careers:
Encounters with Employers and Employees
Our close links with our corporate partners means everyone is able to engage with ‘real life’ employers and employees.
Through our emerging links with Young Enterprise we will extend the opportunities for young people to be mentored by inspiring business volunteers to discover more about themselves and develop essential life skills which are valued in the workplace.
We will continue to develop our Aspirations Events programme to ensure we have a diverse and broad range of speakers reflecting a variety of careers, vocations, and employment sectors. This year, pupils in Years 7 to 9 have attended assemblies relating to the NHS (careers in health), hospitality and catering (Edgbaston Park Hotel), Professional Ethics (Warwick Medical School & KJ Conroy & Co (law firm)), and Mott MacDonald and Kier Group (Civil Engineering). Pupils also took part in associated classroom activities. We will also ensure that our pupils and students see themselves reflected in the people they learn from, and make sure we proactively ensure as diverse a range of speakers as possible.
If you would like to be involved in our careers programme, either by providing an assembly, offering a one-off lesson, or play a more involved role through mentoring and our enrichment programme, then please contact Mr Huckstep via careers@uobschool.org.uk.
Experiences of Workplaces
Accessing organsations and demystifying the workplace will enable our pupils and students to have the confidence to know no boundaries to their aspirations. Being able to visualise themselves in different work based environments is crucial to widening their understanding of potential routes through employment, and of the wide opportunities available to them.
Through our links with the local community, our corporate partners, and our University, everyone in Year 10 and Year 12 will take part in work experience, including an enterpirse week for Year 10 pupils.
We want our pupils to know what to expect when they enter the workplace and to walk into their first interviews and placements with confidence.
Encounters with Further and Higher Education
Our aspirations are for everyone to go to University or to find a suitably aspirational alternative. We recognise that University isn’t right for everyone, but we would expect pupils and students to be able to make an informed decision as to why they are not going rather than it be the exception for them to go. We will endeavour to find role models from further and higher education to reflect our communities and work in collaboration with parents/carers to make sure everyone is well informed about routes to Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE), the financial implications and support available, and the benefits of getting further qualifications in terms of income and outcomes in later life.
The nature of our School means the word ‘University’ is already firmly embedded in our vocabulary, but we need to ensure pupils, students, and parents/carers know what qualifications, skills, and character virtues are required to be successful in securing places in FE and HE.
We invite people in from FE and HE, and take our young people out to visit them, share our own experiences, and draw on the experiences of others.
Personal Guidance
By focusing on developing each and every young person’s character, asking them to reflect on who they want to become and what contribution to society they want to make, we will enable them to have a clear sense of their journey and be more likely to focus on what future they want. Being able to think about the future with guidance from professionals is powerful, and these opportunities are built into our L4L programme as well as schemes of work in other departments.
Specifically we will ensure that pupils and students:
In Year 9 have a conversation with a member of staff before they choose their GCSE pathways.
In Year 10/11 have an impartial and independent session with our career development professional to discuss their future.
In Sixth Form have access to careers guidance whenever they need it.
All pupils will become familiar with digital technology and how it can support personal guidance.
The CDI’s Career Development Framework
The Career Development Framework for secondary schools clarifies the skills, knowledge, and attitudes that individuals need to have a successful career and explores how secondary schools can support young people to build their career development skills.
Schools’ career development programmes support pupils and students to plan, prepare, and move towards the rest of their lives, and this can be done through a process of career development learning and should result in pupils and students acquiring the necessary collection of skills, knowledge, and attitudes. The CDI Career Development Framework complements the picture of good career guidance that is set out in the Gatsby Benchmarks.
Evaluation and Impact
We will monitor the University of Birmingham School’s Careers Programme and the ‘career readiness’ of pupils and students using the Future Skills Questionnaire at specific points during their school journey.
The Future Skills Questionnaire (FSQ) gives pupils and students the opportunity to reflect on their career-related knowledge and skills, and can help to evaluate the impact of the School’s Careers Programme and inform continuous improvement.
The tool can also be used to help identify pupils or students who may be at risk of NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training), track those who are responding consistently negatively to the FSQ questions and use responses to tailor support and intervention.
We will also seek feedback from parents/carers, teachers, and employers as part of the evaluation process.
Useful Careers Websites
