Careers, Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG)
Nita J Chotai (Community Governor – Link to Careers) Mrs J Ortega (Careers Leader – Assistant Headteacher) Mr L Tapper (Careers Guidance Adviser)
Bentley Wood High School – Telephone: 0208 954 3623 SchoolOffice@bentleywood.harrow.sch.uk
Aims
At Bentley Wood High School, we provide a comprehensive programme of careers education in line with the Government’s careers strategy, published on the 4 December 2017 and the Provider Access Legislation, January 2023, which sets out a long-term plan to build a world class careers system that will help young people and adults choose the career that is right for them. This statutory guidance has been updated to expand on the aim set out in the strategy to make sure that all young people in secondary school get a programme of careers education, information, advice and guidance that is stable, structured and delivered by individuals with the right skills and experience.
To achieve this aim, the careers strategy and LAP guidance sets out that every school and academy providing secondary education should use the Gatsby Charitable Foundation’s Benchmarks to develop and improve their careers provision. These benchmarks are: (1) To provide a stable careers programme; (2) Learning from career and labour market information; (3) Addressing the needs of each student; (4) Linking curriculum learning to careers; (5) Encounters with employers and employees; (6) Experiences of workplaces; (7) Encounters with further and higher education; and (8) Personal guidance.
Bentley Wood High School fully supports the statutory requirement for students to have direct access to other providers of further education training, technical training and apprenticeships. The school will comply with the legal requirement to put on at least six encounters with providers of approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships. This will be done in a number of events, as shown in the programme in appendix 1, including assemblies and Active Tutoring activities during National Apprenticeship Week and National Careers Week, in addition to providers attending careers events at school as a live or virtual encounter.
The overarching aim for careers guidance at Bentley Wood focused on widening students’ horizons, challenging stereotypes and raising aspiration. Bentley Wood will provide students with the knowledge and skills to make a successful transition to the next stage of their life and support social mobility by improving the opportunities for all our students (especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with special educational needs and disabilities).
High quality careers education and guidance in school is critical to young people’s futures. It helps to prepare them for the workplace by providing a clear understanding of the world of work including the routes to jobs and careers that they might find engaging and rewarding.
As the number of apprenticeships rises every year, it becomes increasingly important that all young people have a full understanding of all the options available to them post-16 and post-18 including wider technical education options such as T-Levels and Higher Technical Qualifications.
To read the full Careers (CEIAG) Policy please see below.
UNIFROG
In keeping with our commitment to provide students with outstanding careers guidance and tailored support when choosing their next steps after Bentley Wood High School, we use Unifrog www.unifrog.org; an award-winning, online destinations platform. All students in Years 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 now have access to this website.
You can watch a short video here explaining UNIFROG https://www.unifrog.org/about
Unifrog is the universal destinations platform and is designed to support learners in making the most informed decisions about their futures and has a range of tools that are suitable for all year groups. Each student has their own account where they can explore all the career and next step options available to them and find information on everything from managing their workload to writing a winning CV. Students have access to a wide variety of video and written content, and interactive quizzes and tests, including:
Post 16 Choices Magazine for Students and Parents
EDT Choices Magazine 24/25
Scan the QR Code to access the Magazine
The Parents’ Guide to Green Careers
Parents/Carers can also have your own Unifrog account. You’ll be able to research careers, attend webinars delivered by employers and universities to learn more about their opportunities, and compare pathways so you can support your child in making an informed decision about their next steps
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Year 11
Year 12
Year 13
Measuring and assessing the impact of the careers programme on pupils
Throughout the academic year students are asked individuality and in groups about the impact of the careers programme on them, feedback is usually verbal, students sharing their thoughts and comments or written, through evaluation/feedback forms with Microsoft Forms. As a school, we also listen to the feedback/comments regarding the many ‘Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) events for all year groups, from parents/guardians at Parent’s Evenings, Year 8 Options Evening and the 6th Form Open Evening in assisting their child’s future career and educational planning and the support they have received. We also regularly receive feedback from employers who have had students on Work Experience placements with them. Both teaching and non-teaching staff along with the students themselves also provide a guide in terms of measuring and assessing the impact of the careers programme on pupils through the final destination records obtained.
FE/Training Provider Access
Bentley Wood High School is committed to ensuring there is an opportunity for a range of education and training providers to access students, for the purpose of informing them about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships. Bentley Wood High School is fully aware of the responsibility to set students on the path that will secure the best outcome which will enable them to progress in education and work and give employers the highly skilled people they need. That means acting impartially, in line with the statutory duty, and not showing bias towards any route, be that academic or technical.
Bentley Wood school believes in giving FE, HE and training providers the opportunity to talk to pupils at the school. Please use the following link to see its ‘Provider Access Policy’: “
Equality and Diversity
Access to other providers is available and promoted to allow all students to access information about other providers of further education and apprenticeships. Bentley Wood High School is committed to encouraging all students to make decisions about their future based on impartial information.
Review date of the information published
All information published on the careers page of this school’s website will be reviewed at the start of each academic year and at any point when required.
Year 10 and 12 Work Experience
In an integral part of the Key Stage 4 and 5 school curriculum is the provision of a Work Experience Programme for all students in Year 10. We have found Work Experience to be extremely beneficial to students in preparing them for entering the world of work. It should give them:
All students have to complete the Work Experience Student Application Form which is given to them in October of Year 10.
On the same week the Bentley Wood students will be out on work experience there are many other Harrow High schools also on work experience. It is therefore going to be a challenge to place students in their chosen job area. We very much welcome students using their family and friends’ networks to seek their own work placements.
In particular, if your daughter has an interest in the media, fashion, design, and law, you may want to help her find her placement. These placement opportunities are limited and difficult to get into. If your daughter is hoping to find her own placement, it is necessary for the employer to fill in the Self-Found Placement Form. Last year many of our students found their own placements.
Other Work Experience
At Bentley Wood, we strongly encourage students to undertake work experience whenever possible in other year groups.
This should ideally take place in the school holidays, although leave of absence from school can sometimes be negotiated with your relevant Head of Year – make sure you have a chat with your Head of Year before signing up for any opportunities that arise.
Work Experience Opportunities
Regular work experience opportunities that come to our attention will be posted on their Year Group Team and emailed in careers communications as they often have quite tight timeframes for applications.
GSK
GSK run an extremely popular three-day work experience programme in the February and October half terms called ‘Molecule to Market’ and based at their Stockley Park offices. Eligible year groups will be notified by Teams when applications open.
Cisco
Cisco run a technical and business based work experience programme in November and July every year called ‘Pathway to Your Future’ and open to Year 10 and 11 students. Eligible year groups will be notified by Teams when applications open.
EY
EY is a ‘professional services’ company, they provide assurance and accountancy help, assistance with tax affairs, consultancy and corporate transactions. They run a one-week Business Academy programme for Year 12 students in the summer.
McLaren Automotive
McLaren Automotive offer a work experience programme for Year 10 and 11 students every year, usually with a February application deadline.
The BBC
The BBC has four application windows every year and each one lasts two weeks. There are several categories of work experience available at four locations. You can only choose one category in one location. There is no separate category for online work, but all of categories offer placements that have a strong interactive element.
When you choose your location and category and fill in your online application, they will ask you some questions about your interests and passion for your chosen placement. If you are successful, they will do their best to match you to a placement that’s right for you.
Every work experience placement is different, but they’re all designed to give you the opportunity to make the most of your time there. When you arrive, your Placement Manager will want to find out more about you and what you want to get out of your time. They’ll try to get you involved in the things that interest you most.
Remember that work experience is unpaid but it’s a learning experience and not a job.
Medical Work Experience
Premed Projects, an organisation offering medical work experience and shadowing in the UK. Note that there is a significant charge for this service.
Law
Legal work experience can be very difficult to find, but the link to All About Law below provides you with some ideas. Remember that you can always visit a court during the school holidays and watch court proceedings. You don’t usually need to ask for permission, but it might be polite to email them first – there is always a contact email on the court websites.
Journalism
The Guardian newspaper run a series of short courses for aspiring journalists – some of them are run by well-known Guardian columnists. There is a fee for them, but quite a reasonable one. Click HERE to find out more.
Success at School
Click on the Success at School logo to visit a great list of current work experience opportunities to be applied for with a range of organisations such as the National Trust and JP Morgan.
Prospects
The Prospects careers website has lots of useful tips on both work experience and volunteering. Click HERE to access the starter page.
Rate My Apprenticeship
This website has an excellent guide to work experience, including a list of large companies and organisations that regularly offer it. Click HERE to read the feature.
Volunteering
People choose to volunteer for a variety of reasons. For some it offers the chance to give something back to the community or make a difference to the people around them. For others it provides an opportunity to develop new skills or build on existing experience and knowledge. Regardless of the motivation, what unites them all is that they find it both challenging and rewarding.
What could be better than a chance to make a difference AND make your CV look great AT THE SAME TIME!!!
The subjects and qualifications you study over Years 9, 10 and 11 will affect how you spend your time during your next three years at Bentley Wood. It could also help set you up for the career or college course you want later on.
How do I choose?
To help you decide what to study in Years 8, 9, 10 and 11, start by asking yourself what you enjoy doing and what you’re good at.
Think about:
Some red hot tips…..
Where can I get help and advice?
The choices are yours, but most people look for advice on important decisions. There’s plenty available, but you should do as much as you can yourself to research all the options.
Parents, carers, family and friends probably know you best, so talking to them can help you work out what might suit you. But remember that they won’t always know a lot about careers or courses you’re interested in. If you’re planning to work towards a particular career or college course, don’t be put off just because it means taking a different direction from friends or family members. Subject teachers know exactly what studying a subject in Year 8, 9, 10 and 11 involves, and can advise whether it’s right for you.
Mrs Ortega (Careers Leader) can guide you towards advice about which subjects and qualifications are useful for particular careers.
Mr Tapper the school’s Careers Adviser, will be at Parents/Options Evening for you to ask any questions.
Options Post 16
What are my Options?
Remember, the participation age has been raised, so you now have to stay in some sort of education or training until your 18th birthday. But you do have a number of options for the form this can take.
A Levels
The most popular option is to continue your studies into A Levels. You can do this at Bentley Wood or at another school with a sixth form or a sixth form college. This provides you with the best basis to access university courses, although it’s not the only way.
Apprenticeships
You can apply to do an apprenticeship and get paid while you learn! For further information on Apprenticeships follow this link: https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship
Other College Courses
You can do a different course at a college. This could be a diploma or a vocational qualification such as an NVQ, a City and Guilds or a BTEC. Mr Tapper, the school’s Careers Adviser, can help you with these.
Skills Route:
Skills Route is a set of tools to help students, explore the different routes that they could take, plan and learn about all the options that are available for study after GCSE and find all the information they need to research college or sixth forms. The link is below.
www.skillsroute.com
Useful websites:
The Free Future Finder website helps students learn which STEM A Levels, are used in Medical Careers such as General Practitioner, Hospital Doctor, Surgeon, Psychiatrist and Pathologist. This feature also can be used for other Health and STEM related careers. There are lots of inspirational Career paths to explore here TheFemaleLead.
Most people in Year 13 at Bentley Wood go through the UCAS application process to get into university. However, there are other options which may very well be right for some of you.
University
Most people at Bentley Wood would look at a full degree taking three years plus, although it also possible to do a Foundation Degree – these last two years and allow more of an option at the end of those two years about what you do next.
Apprenticeships and School Leaver Programmes
You may wish to investigate doing an apprenticeship when you leave Bentley Wood – an increasingly popular (and also competitive) option in the light of the increased burden of student tuition fees at university. For further information on Apprenticeships follow this link: https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship
Please view the video link below for information about Higher Education and Apprenticeships. Higher Education and Apprenticeships
Please view the video link below for information about applying to Medical School Update to Medical Admissions – A Guide for Medical Applicants
Gap Year
You may decide to take a gap year before going to university.
Employment
You may wish to leave education entirely at this point and try to get a job.
Skills Route
Labour market information (or LMI) is essentially data on where people work, the salaries they earn, the skills that are in demand and can forecast future trends and job vacancies. These resources will help you find information on labour market and careers.
Labour Market Information (or LMI) includes:
National Careers Service provides high quality, free and impartial careers advice, information and guidance to help make decisions on learning, training and work.
This video will give you a brief overview of some of the work the National Careers Service undertakes.
The LMI for All portal provides high quality, reliable Labour Market Information (LMI) to inform careers decisions. http://www.lmiforall.org.uk/explore_lmi/
NOMIS – Nomis is a service provided by the Office for National Statistics, ONS, to give free access to the most detailed and up-to-date UK labour market statistics from official sources.
icould – Free and simple to use, icould.com features over 1000 videos of people talking about their careers – explaining their job role, career path, and how different factors have shaped their direction.
My Learning, My Future is a suite of resources that has been developed in partnership with The Careers & Enterprise Company and Skills Builder to help colleagues speak confidently about careers related to subjects, as well as the various pathways and skills needed by employers.
Quality in Careers Award
We are delighted to announce that the school is currently being considered for recognition with a Quality in Careers Award
