Careers Education Information Advice & Guidance
Careers Leader: Sarah Charnock
Phone: 01925 579500
Email: charnocks@bca.warrington.ac.uk
Date of Next Review: September 2024
Beamont Collegiate Academy is committed to ensuring all students are able to make informed career decisions, that they fully understand the range of options and have the skills and support and confidence to move to further education, apprenticeship or employment. The Gatsby Benchmarks are central to CEIAG at the academy.
BCA’s approach is underpinned by research, which has shown that good CEIAG can:
• Inspire young people to succeed in their careers.
• Increase motivation, leading to improved exam results.
• Improve decision making by increasing pupils’ knowledge of the world of work.
• Reduce young people’s anxiety about the future.
• Help to improve social mobility.
Student Careers Entitlement
All students are entitled to:
• A careers programme with careers education embedded in each subject and key information presented in assemblies and tutor time.
• Tailored independent and impartial careers guidance taking into account students’ interests, skills, abilities and qualities.
• Learn and understand more about themselves, their interests, likes, dislikes and strengths and how this affects the choices you make.
• Learn about academic, technical and vocational qualifications and apprenticeships and get support applying for them.
• Develop the skills required for the world of work and make realistic, ambitious choices about courses and jobs.
• Develop a plan of action for the future and understand the different routes post 16 and post 18 including training, further and higher education and jobs.
• Participate in and develop through careers, employability and enterprise activities.
• Access information about the labour market.
• To meet with representatives from colleges and universities.
Provider Access Policy
All pupils in years 7-11 are entitled:
• to find out about technical education qualifications and apprenticeships opportunities, as part of a careers programme which provides information on the full range of education and training options available at each transition point;
• to hear from a range of local providers about the opportunities they offer, including technical education and apprenticeships – through options events, assemblies and group discussions and careers fairs.
• to understand how to make applications for the full range of academic and technical courses.
A provider wishing to request access should contact Sarah Charnock – Careers Lead.
Opportunities for access
The school offers a comprehensive Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance programme and the strategy can be seen on the school website. The school will make a suitable space available for discussions between the provider and students, as appropriate to the activity. The school will also make available ICT and other specialist equipment to support provider presentations. This will all be discussed and agreed in advance of the visit with the Careers Lead or a member of their team. Providers are welcome to leave a copy of their prospectus or other relevant course literature with the Careers Adviser so that they can be displayed in the Careers Room.
Labour Market Information
Labour Market Information or LMI is used in BCA to give insights into jobs and career opportunities, helping students, parents and carers understand what roles are currently available along with future predictions.
Some of the specific features of LMI are listed here:
- The industries and businesses that operate in a certain location, such as Warrington.
- The types of jobs that exist and what they involve.
- The number of jobs in each sector.
- The skills that are currently or will be in high demand.
- Commute and travel to work patterns.
- Rates of pay or salaries.
- Career progression opportunities.
- Where opportunities are increasing or decreasing
- What you need to study to get into an occupation.
Warrington LMI
Major local employers include Sellafield, Jacobs and Cavendish Nuclear, based at Birchwood Park. Warrington is the home to United Utilities head office and the NHS is a large employer with both the Warrington & Halton Trust and Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Four industrial sectors that are growing in Warrington and Cheshire are Life Sciences, Digital & Technology, Logistics & Distribution and Energy, Zero Carbon and Green Growth. Other sectors which are large employers are Chemicals, Manufacturing & Engineering, Finance & Business Services along with Health & Social Care.
LMI is used in careers meetings and lessons, along with being displayed around the academy.
Measuring the impact
The academy completes the Careers and Enterprise Company’s Compass benchmarking tool which evaluates careers provision against the 8 Gatsby benchmarks.
At the end of each academic year the findings from student and parental surveys are used to measure the impact and inform planning for the following academic year.
Feedback is gathered form external providers and students following careers and enterprise events that take place throughout the academic year. Examples of this being the annual careers fair, mock employment interviews, enterprise days and 1 to 1 guidance interviews.
Destination data is used to inform future planning and to establish whether careers provision is offering the right advice and guidance and to ascertain whether students are making the right choices when moving into education, employment or training.
Destination Data
Data is collected throughout the academy based on the intended destinations of Year 11 students, generally a college course or apprenticeship. This data is shared with Warrington Borough Council. Students at risk of not going on to employment, education or training (NEET) are identified at an early stage and given priority appointments with our careers adviser and, where necessary additional interventions.
BCA and Gatsby Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Aim | What BCA is doing |
| 1. A stable careers programme | Every school & College should have an embedded programme of careers education and guidance that is known and understood by students, parents, teachers, government and employers. |
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| 2. Learning from careers and labour market information | Every student, and their parents, should have access to good quality information about future study options and labour market opportunities. They will need the support of an informed advisor to make best use of available information. |
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| 3. Addressing the needs of each student | Students have different career guidance needs at different stages. |
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| 4. Linking the curriculum learning to careers | All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide rage if future career paths. |
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| 5. Encounters with employers and employees | Every student should have multiple opportunities to learn about work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace. This can be delivered through a range of enrichment activities including visiting speakers mentoring and enterprise schemes. |
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| 6. Experience of workplaces | Every student should have first-hand experiences of the workplace through work visits, work shadowing and/or work experience to help their exploration of career opportunities, and expand their networks. |
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| 7. Encounters with further education and higher education | All students should understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. This includes both academic and vocational routes and learning in schools, colleges, universities and in the workplace. |
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| 8. Personal Guidance | Every pupil should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a Careers Advisor, provided they are trained to an appropriate level. Guidance interviews should be available whenever significant study or career choices are being made, they should be expected for all pupils but should be timed to meet their individual needs. |
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Useful Links
The links below provide information on a wide range of topics and will be useful in identifying options and support decision making.
Job Information
National Careers Service
The National Careers Service has a range of information on making choices, career planning, courses, apprenticeships and information on writing CVs and completing application forms.
https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/
CareersBox
CareersBox offers an online library of careers films, news and information.
https://www.careersbox.co.uk/
NHS Health Careers
This website contains information on the massive range of job opportunities in the NHS.
https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/
Colleges
Priestley College
Warrington and Vale Royal College
Reaseheath College
Cronton Sixth Form College
Riverside College
http://www.riversidecollege.ac.uk/
Apprenticeships
National Apprenticeship Service
The government’s apprenticeship website has a range of information on becoming an apprentice and local and national apprenticeship vacancies.
https://www.gov.uk/topic/further-education-skills/apprenticeships
University
UCAS
The universities central admissions service has details of UK university courses, with information on the application process, finance & support.
www.ucas.com
Unistats
A website which compares different universities and courses.
https://unistats.ac.uk/
Prospects
Prospects has information on graduate jobs and careers.
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/
The Russell Group
The group represents the UK’s 24 leading universities, the website is a good source of higher education careers information & advice, including ‘informed choices’ a downloadable guide to making post 16 choices.
https://russellgroup.ac.uk/
Not Going to Uni
This website highlights the variety of opportunities that exist outside of university.
https://www.notgoingtouni.co.uk/
General Information
Career Connect
A range of information and advice for young people.
https://www.careerconnect.org.uk/
Buzz Quiz
Take the Buzz test and in less than 5 minutes discover what your strengths are and get an insight in to your personality.
https://icould.com/buzz-quiz/
Target Careers Future Wise
Explore options for careers, university or apprenticeships and get help applying successfully.
https://targetcareers.co.uk/
National Citizen Service
NCS is the country’s fastest-growing youth movement, a rite of passage for all
teenagers aged 15-17 to discover who they are and what they can do.
It’s your chance to explore, be inspired and find your passion.
https://www.ncsyes.co.uk/
Careers Writers Association
Information from experts on a range of careers topics.
