Skip to content ↓

Careers & After Test Valley

Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance Programme (CEIAG)

Careers Lead – Steve Langdown – Tel: 01264 810555 -

langdowns@testvalley.hants.sch.uk 

Our independent careers adviser is Jane Belbin –  careers@testvalley.hants.sch.uk

Test Valley School is committed to providing a high-quality careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) programme to all pupils and their parents.

In line with the statutory guidance produced by the DFE and the Gatsby Benchmarks, pupils receive careers guidance embedded into the curriculum in addition to dedicated one to one opportunities and group work. CEIAG is incorporated into all year groups to stimulate the interests of pupils and to inspire them to reach their full potential.

Career Dreams Motivate!

At Test Valley School we realise that career dreams are one of the driving forces behind the purpose of education. The era of one job for life is long over with adults typically changing their job between 10 to 15 times during their working journey. Being skilled for life and skilled for change is very important but knowing which ladder to choose at the start of your journey is often a very difficult question to answer.

We provide a vast range of opportunities through an extensive careers programme. This is to support our pupils’ exploration into their career dreams. Our programme provides opportunities every year from Year 7 onwards through event days, assemblies, trips, work experience, personal guidance, subject led explorations and Parents’ Information Evenings.

Pupils will have experienced the following CEIAG opportunities by the time they leave school:

  1. An embedded programme of careers education.
  2. Access to Labour Market Information and future study opportunities.
  3. The Career needs of individual students will be tailored and measured.
  4. Careers and enterprise education and the curriculum is linked to real-world career pathways.
  5. All students experience encounters with employers.
  6. Pupils will engage with employers by attending off-site opportunities.
  7. In-depth information encounters from further education providers and apprenticeships whilst in key stage 4.
  8. All students experience encounters from higher education.
  9. Personal and private guidance by an independent advisor and supported in school by the careers Lead

    Measured by pupil trackers and annual pupil voice for all years

Some ongoing examples of careers activities and opportunities:

  • Workplace, Career Fair and College taster visits
  • Tutor time careers-themed tasks
  • One to one career guidance interviews, targeted from Year 8 and for all by Year 11
  • Career focused event days for all year groups tailored to Year group stage needs and increasingly tailored to pupils needs in KS4.
  • Updated online resources
  • Work experience for Year 10 pupils
  • Careers talks delivered by businesses from a wide range of sectors
  • CV/personal statement writing skills
  • Updated apprenticeship information and support with applications and interviews
  • Impartial information for Post 16

Raising the Participation Age – All young people are required to continue in education or training until their 18th Birthday. This can be done in the following ways:

  • Stay on full-time in a school, college or with a training provider (many young people also do a part time job alongside this).
  • Work or volunteer full-time, together with part-time education or training.
  • Take up an apprenticeship or traineeship

Links

For pupils

We have a full programme of events and activities for children that starts in Year 7 and progresses through to Year 11. Please se the Career Programme Details section below.

Parents

We would like parents to:

  • encourage their children to have high career aspirations
  • to use labour market information to research and identify high demand career areas
  • to encourage their children to research the pathways into career areas they are interested in

The school will provide events and access to resource tools so that parents know how to use labour market information tools and pathway Apps.

Parents can access the careers programme. Please se the Career Programme Details section below.

We also welcome parents who are employers or have experience within careers fields to support the school as detailed in the employers and entrepreneurs section below.

Employers and entrepreneurs

For employers and entrepreneurs, we offer two key opportunities to support our school.

  1. The opportunity to inspire young people by talking directly to them through our assemblies
  2. In Year 10 we hold an ambassador event, offering small group specialist talks about career areas of interest and requested by pupils.

If you would like to support the school with either of the opportunities listed above, please write to me, Steve Langdown, langdowns@testvalley.hants.sch.uk. We can arrange an assembly date or add you to our database for the ambassador event.

Staff

All staff should activity seek opportunities to relate their study topics to real world employment opportunities.

Teaching staff should specifically build introductory activities into their lesson plans to discuss how particular topics fit into different working areas making the teaching relevant to the adult working world. This serves two purposes; it brings relevance of their subject area into the classroom and inspires young people who enjoy particular topics to be motivated to explore career opportunities. 

Gatsby Benchmarks

The Gatsby Benchmarks guide our programme. The areas covered are:

  • Benchmark 1 – A stable careers programme
  • Benchmark 2 – Learning from career and labour market information
  • Benchmark 3 – Addressing the needs of each pupil
  • Benchmark 4 – Linking curriculum learning to careers
  • Benchmark 5 – Encounters with employers and employees
  • Benchmark 6 – Experiences of workplaces
  • Benchmark 7 – Encounters with further and higher education
  • Benchmark 8 – Personal guidance

Gatsby Benchmark Compass

The school’s careers programme has been assessed against the Gatsby Benchmarks.

Gatsby Benchmark Results (2023)

Careers Programme Details

Test Valley School Careers Programme (2023-2024)

2023 Pupil Destinations

The summary of the destinations for our school leavers in 2023 is:

  • Further education at a college or 6th form 96.5%
  • Full time training 1.2%
  • Apprenticeship employment 2.4%
  • Not in Education, Employment or Training 0%
  • Nonparticipating / unknown total 0%

 

For more information, please see the full document.