Careers Education
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Statement of intent
The main aims of careers provision at GEM Hereford are to:
Legal framework
This policy has due regard to all relevant legislation and statutory guidance including, but not limited to, the following:
This policy operates in conjunction with the following school policies:
Roles and responsibilities
The governing board and board of directors is responsible for:
The careers leader is responsible for:
The careers adviser is responsible for:
Teaching staff are responsible for:
Creating a learning environment that allows and encourages students to tackle real life challenges, manage risks and develop skills that can be applied to the workplace.
Developing a stable careers programme
The school will have its own careers programme in place which meets the requirements of the eight Gatsby Benchmarks:
The programme will be reviewed reguarly against the benchmarks to ensure it remains on target.
The school will demonstrate how it is working towards each Gatsby Benchmark, as part of its careers summary, including the aims, objectives and activities provided for each year group.
Regular feedback from students, parents, teachers, governors and employers will be invited. Feedback will be used to contribute to the development of the school’s careers programme to ensure it meets the needs of all students.
A careers leader will be appointed to ensure the leadership and coordination of a high-quality careers programme. The careers leader will be recruited alongside the suggested requirements to ensure the role is correctly fulfilled. The careers leader is Beth Rogers.
The appointed careers leader will possess the following skills:
The following will be published on the school’s website:
A careers adviser will be appointed to support the careers leader and to provide individual, tailored careers guidance to students. The careers adviser is Gail Kilminster.
The headteacher will work with enterprise coordinators to build careers and employer engaGEMent plans to broaden the range of guidance that students have access to.
The school will work towards the ‘Quality in Careers Standard ’ to support the development of its careers programme, ensuring the programme is reviewed termly to ensure it is in line with the required standards.
Using labour market information
The school will ensure all requirements to meet ‘Benchmark 2: Learning from career and labour market information’ as outlined in the DfE’s ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’.
The school will ensure every pupil, and their parents, has access to high-quality information about future study options and labour market opportunities. Students and their parents will be referred to an informed advisor to help them make best use of the information available.
The school will ensure students and their parents understand the value of finding out about the labour market, and support them in accessing this information. Students and their parents will be provided with information on the benefits of understanding the labour market, including the salaries and promotion opportunities for different jobs, and the volume and location of vacancies across different sectors.
The school will ensure that all students, by the age of 14, have accessed and used information about career paths and the labour market to inform their own decisions on study options. Students will be provided with the necessary links and information that will enable them to access this. Access will be monitored to review whether students are making the most of the service, and if not, what can be done to ensure they do.
Parents will be encouraged to access and use information about labour markets and future study options to inform their support to their children.
The school will make use of local enterprise partnerships to provide students with presentations and workshops on the local labour market and employer expectations. The information provided through the partnership will be used to shape career guidance and workshops in schools.
To support social mobility, the school will work to raise students’ aspirations and tackle stereotypical assumptions. Interventions will be used to tackle gender stereotypes; arranGEMents will be made for students to talk to employees who work in non-stereotypical jobs to raise awareness of the range of careers that STEM qualifications lead to.
The school will use labour market information, such as job roles, pay and vacancies, to inform students about the trends and opportunities in each industry. Information about a diverse range of progression pathways will be shared with students, including technical routes, to strengthen their capacity to make effective choices.
Addressing the needs of students
The school will ensure all requirements to meet ‘Benchmark 3: Addressing the needs of each pupil’ as outlined in the DfE’s ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’.
The school’s careers programme will aim to raise the aspirations of all students whilst being tailored to individual needs. The programme will inform students of the range of opportunities available to them, encouraging them to aim higher and make choices relevant to what they feel they can achieve.
All forms of stereotyping will be prohibited in the careers advice and guidance that is provided, to ensure students of all genders, backgrounds and abilities can consider the widest possible range of careers. The school’s careers programme will actively seek to challenge stereotypical thinking and raise aspirations.
The school will tailor careers activities and educational goals to the needs of each pupil, taking into account their prior knowledge and skills, the choices they may face, and any additional support they may need to overcome barriers to progression.
Comprehensive and accurate records will be kept to support the career development of individual students at all relevant stages of education, beginning from the first point of contact. These records will be stored securely in the Directors Office at GEM Hereford. Access to this information will be permitted, should a pupil or their parent request it.
Destinations data will be retained by the school for at least three years after a pupil has left school. This data, e.g. the percentage of students attending sixth form in the following term, will be published on the school's website alongside the school’s careers programme.
Data retained will be collected, stored and managed in line with the Data Protection Policy and Records ManaGEMent Policy.
The school will collect and analyse destinations data to assess how well the careers programme is countering stereotypes and raising aspirations. The data will be reviewed by the headteacher and careers leader on a regular basis who can then base further development of the school’s career guidance plan on the results and areas of success or failure.
Providing targeted support
The school will work with the LA, children’s social care and VSHs to identify students who are in need of targeted support or those who are at risk of not participating in post-16 pathways, such as:
Agreements will be made on how these students can be referred for support drawn from a range of education and training support services available locally. The school will share the relevant data on these students with the LA and local education and training providers where support costs may be required, such as care leavers and students who are eligible for FSM.
The school will work in partnership with their commissioning schools and LAs as well as post-16 providers to provide support and advice on transitional pathways into FE or training.
The school will work with Jobcentre plus under their ‘Support for Schools’ programme.
The school will ensure that students understand the programmes available to support them and the financial costs associated with staying in post-16 FE. To support students who are likely to need support with post-16 participation costs, such as those with SEND, the school will work with the LA and local post-16 education or training providers to share pupil data and ensure these students receive such support.
Students will be made aware of the 16-19 Bursary Fund, which has been devised to support those individuals with a financial hardship. They will be advised of how to access this funding and who they should speak to in order to find out more information.
Supporting students with SEND
The school will ensure that careers guidance is differentiated, if appropriate, and based on high aspirations and a personalised approach. The SEND local offer will be utilised; annual reviews for a pupil’s EHC plan will be informed by good careers guidance.
The careers leader will work closely with the SENCO and other staff to support students with understanding different career pathways and how to develop the necessary skills, knowledge, experience and qualifications to succeed and fulfil their potential. The school will work with families of students to help them understand what career options are available.
Surveys will be conducted to find out individual students’ aspirations. The results of the surveys will create careers guidance and experience that will be tailored to students needs based on their own aspirations and abilities.
Careers guidance will take account of the full range of relevant education, training and employment opportunities. It will inform students about the ways employees with SEND are supported in the workplace. Guidance will focus on a pupil’s career aspirations and the post-16 options which are most likely to give the pupil a pathway into employment or HE.
The school will build partnerships with businesses and other employers, employment services, and disability and other voluntary organisations. Students will be prepared for encounters with employers and provided with any special support that will allow them to benefit fully from the experience.
Students with SEND will have the opportunity to hear from adults with disabilities who have succeeded in their careers as part of the school’s successful careers strategy.
When arranging work experience for students, the school will work with the employer to determine any additional support that will be needed during the work placement.
Linking curriculum learning to careers
The school will ensure all requirements to meet ‘Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers’ as outlined in the DfE’s ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’.
The school will work to encompass careers education and guidance into subjects across the curriculum. All teachers will be asked to support the career development of young people in their role and through their subject teaching. Teachers with industry experience will play a part in building careers guidance into the curriculum.
Students will be expected to study the core academic subjects at KS4, including English, maths, science and humanities at an appropriate level. Students will be taught to understand how these subjects provide a sound basis for many careers, as well as how they can enrich and enhance their lives and prepare them for adult life in general. Careers, employability, and enterprise lessons will be embedded into the PSHE curriculum.
Students will be informed that if they do not achieve a grade 4 or higher in GCSE maths and English by the end of KS4, they will be required to continue working towards this aim as part of their 16-19 study programme.
The school will ensure that, by the age of 14, every pupil has had the opportunity to learn how various STEM subjects aid their entry into a wide range of careers and enable them to be more effective workers. The same will be applied for every pupil in their chosen subjects by the end of their course of study. The Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) have collaborated with STEM Learning to produce a series of STEM toolkits.
Enabling encounters with employers
The school will ensure all requirements to meet ‘Benchmark 5: Encounters with employers and employees’ as outlined in the DfE’s ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’.
The school will engage with local employers, businesses, and professional networks, inviting visiting speakers, particularly alumni with whom students can relate to. Every pupil will be exposed to the world of work by the age of 14.
Every year, from the age of 11, students will participate in at least one meaningful encounter with an employer; at least one of these encounters will be with a STEM employer or workplace. These encounters will include:
The school will develop strong links with local, regional and national employers across all sectors to help students obtain information on, and participate in, the rollout of T-levels. The school will work with an Enterprise Advisor, who will enhance connections to the labour market.
The careers programme will have a strong employer focus, allowing students to meet with sector representatives and businesses, to gain insights into a range of industries and sectors. This will include the opportunity to learn about the entrepreneurial skills needed for certain types of self-employment. Students will have the opportunity to meet with individuals from different levels within an organisation and those who have followed a variety of pathways into employment.
Providing work experience
The school will ensure all requirements to meet ‘Benchmark 6: Experiences of workplaces’ as outlined in the DfE’s ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’.
The school will ensure that all students have had at least one first-hand experience of a work place by the age of 16, additional to any part-time jobs they may have.
Where required and appropriate, virtual experiences of the workplace will be used to complement the in-person experience. This method will not be used for T-level industry placements. Mandatory industry placements for students undertaking T Levels will differ from traditional work experience, and involve more long-term and immersive placements that are designed to lead to a particular type of employment.
The school will encourage students to experience a wide variety of workplaces and support them to plan for, reflect upon, and learning from these experiences.
Work experience will be designed to meet the needs of individual students, with particular consideration for students with SEND and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The school will carefully match the placement to each pupil’s ability, needs and aspirations. The school will work with the employer to put in place additional support within the work placement for students with additional needs, where required, and help prepare the pupil for the work placement.
Enabling encounters with further education (FE) and higher education (HE)
The school will ensure all requirements to meet ‘Benchmark 7: Encounters with further and higher education’ as outlined in the DfE’s ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’.
The school will ensure all students understand the requirement to remain in education or training until their 18th birthday and what this requirement means for them. The school will ensure students are aware that this does not mean they need to stay in school, and that they may:
The school will provide students with a range of information and opportunities to learn about the academic and technical pathways for education, training, and career paths throughout their school life, to prevent last minute decision-making. The school will not present HE more favourably compared to FE or other technical routes, nor will it disproportionately promote its own sixth form over other options.
By the age of 16, every pupil will be provided the opportunity to have a meaningful encounter with providers of educational opportunities, including sixth forms, colleges, universities and apprenticeship providers.
Students will be encouraged to use information tools, such as websites and apps, which display information about opportunities, such as the National Careers Services’ Find a Course. Education and training providers will have access to all students in Years 8 to 11, for the purpose of informing them about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.
The school will ensure that there are opportunities for providers to visit the school and speak to students in Years 8 to 11, by maintaining connections with providers of FE and apprenticeships, and arranging regular visits, presentations and workshops. A range of opportunities for visits from providers offering other options, such as FE will also be provided.
Providing personal guidance
The school will ensure all requirements to meet ‘Benchmark 8: Personal guidance’ as outlined in the DfE’s ‘Careers guidance and access for education and training providers’.
Careers advice provided by the school will be unbiased and maintain the best interests of individual students at all times. The school will not promote particular career or progression routes as better or more favourable than others; however, students will be advised, where evidence supports it, whether a chosen course has the potential to lead to poor career outcomes.
All students will be provided with opportunities for personal guidance interviews with a qualified careers adviser. Such interviews will take place by the time the pupil reaches age 16.
Careers advisers will meet the professional standards outlined by the Career Development Institute. The school will integrate personal guidance interviews within the pastoral system so that they can be followed up by the form tutors or equivalent.
Careers advisers working with students with SEND will use the outcome and aspirations in the EHC plan to focus discussions, where they have one. Careers advisers working with LAC or care leavers will use their personal education plan to focus discussions. These students will have a named adviser who will build a relationship with them to better understand their individual needs.
Sharing information
The school will provide the relevant information about all students to the LA support services including:
Students with SEND will have their data monitored by the LA up until the age of 25.
The school’s privacy notice will offer students and their parents the opportunity to ask for personal information not to be shared.
LAs will be notified, as early as is possible, whenever a 16- or 17-year-old pupil leaves an education or training programme before completion. The school will agree on local arranGEMents for ensuring these duties are met.
Compliance with legal duties and statutory guidance
Where someone has a complaint about the school’s careers provision, such issues will be handled locally in accordance with the school’s Complaints Procedures Policy. All complaints will be easy to submit and considered impartially.
Under Section 42B of the Education Act 1997 and the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, the school has a duty to provide students in Years 8 to 13 with access to providers of post-14, post-16 and post-18 education and training. This will provide students with additional information about approved technical qualifications and apprenticeships, enabling them to build a picture of the kind of training that may suit them best, ultimately reducing the risk of them dropping out of courses.
All students in Years 8 to 13 will receive at least six encounters with accredited providers of technical education and apprenticeships. These encounters will be divided accordingly:
The school will be clear on the following:
The school will ensure that providers provide the following information to students and parents:
The school will ensure that provider visits are available to all students in the relevant year group and will not do anything which may limit the ability of students to attend. The school will not, under any circumstance, restrict invitations to selected groups of students or hold events outside of normal school hours.
Monitoring and review
The effectiveness of this policy will be monitored continually by the headteacher and the governing board and the board of directors of GEM Hereford. Any necessary amendments will be made immediately.
The next scheduled review date for this policy is stated on the version control rubric found of the front cover of this policy.
The school will establish a monitoring system that is backed up by performance measures and this will be reviewed following an incident.
