Summary of Careers Programme
We deliver a Careers programme, which reflects the recommendations of the Gatsby report and the Good Career Guidance Benchmarks:
‘Good career guidance is critical if young people are to raise their aspirations and capitalise on the opportunities available to them.’
Every young person needs high-quality career guidance to make informed decisions about their future.
The Gatsby benchmarks of Good Career Guidance are:
1. A stable careers programme
2. Learning from career and labour market information
3. Addressing the needs of each pupil
4. Linking curriculum learning to careers
5. Encounters with employers and employees
6. Experiences of workplaces
7. Encounters with further and higher education
8. Personal guidance
Our Personal Development Year 7-11 curriculum has specific units of work, with identified learning objectives, outcomes and related activities.
Year 7 students will:
• Know what opportunities are open to them and what will support or hinder them in making the best of these
• Explain what is meant by a career and give examples from people they know
• Recognise and challenge stereotypes that may limit their career choices and aspirations
• Describe their personal aspirations, skills and qualities
Year 8 students will:
• Explain where and how to get different sources of information, including labour market information and use it to inform their future plans
• Assess personal risks which may affect their employability and lifestyle
• Understand the range of 14-19 pathways and the importance of achieving qualifications
• Describe their personal learning targets
• State examples of different types of work: voluntary, employment, self-employment
Year 9 Students will:
• Discuss options – career pathways including further education, apprenticeships and universities
• Complete an enterprise project “World Challenge”
• Attend STEM workshop
• Complete a financial capability qualification
Year 10 students will:
• Understand how businesses plan their finances to make a profit
• Understand how competition regulates business and encourages enterprise
• Understand how and when governments exercise control over business and enterprise
• Identify their enterprising skills and know how I can develop them
Year 11 students will:
• Access information about post 16 learning options and progression routes
• Identify how well they are prepared for post 16 transition
• Describe the changing patterns of employment – local, national, global – and their impact on their career plans
• Articulate their personal aspirations
• Access good impartial information and guidance
• Assess the relevance and reliability of information and guidance
• Understand how their experiences and achievements play a part in their future plans.
Monitoring of Careers Guidance Provision
Provision is monitored through a range of processes including:
• Careers activity observations (PRCE lessons)
• Feedback discussions with focus groups of students
• All students have a passport to careers – Years 7 – 11
Assessment of student progress
Assessment is aligned to our College’s teaching, learning and assessment policy. There are Systems in place to effectively track students’ progress through our Careers Guidance provision.
Assessment in Careers Guidance includes opportunities for:
• Assessment for Learning (formative assessment) – regular assessment of students’ progress against the intended learning outcomes for each age group as detailed above. This will ensure students are making expected progress, we will provide feedback for students on how to improve, and will assist students in planning for subsequent careers guidance activities. Working towards units of work in the careers education programme in Personal Development and subject cross-curricular delivery.
• Assessment of Learning (summative assessment) – assessment, recording and reporting of students’ progress through our Careers Guidance provision including a range of formal assessment opportunities, student action plans, journals/diaries, review meetings. Progress in Careers Guidance is reported to parents through our College reporting systems and meetings with parents.
Here at Settle School, you will be required to choose your GCSE options in year 9. It is important that you choose GCSE courses that you enjoy. In addition, you should think about your future and how your choices might impact your future studies and/or career.
The following links might be useful in helping you with your choices.
Success is a website that provides an overview of GCSE subjects and how they link to future careers.
The consumer rights and review organisation, Which? also offer guidance excellent advice about how GCSE choice affects university applications.
Post 16 Choices
When you leave us at the end of year 11, you will be required to stay in education or training until the age of 18. There are a number of pathways that you could take. Please visit the UCAS website, or this document, to view a useful guide to what options you have after leaving Settle School.
You may choose to study A Levels at a college or sixth form. The following links provide a wealth of information around A Levels as a post-16 pathway;
Information from the Russell Group (a collection of world-leading research universities, based in the UK)
Important note: This route does not currently exist, but will launch in 2020, and so is a viable route for some of the younger students in the school.
When you leave us at the end of year 11, you will be required to stay in education or training until the age of 18. You may choose to study T Levels with a local provider. T Levels are relatively new and further information can be gained from local providers. Please note that the first of the new qualifications, with content developed by leading industry professionals from companies including Rolls Royce, Fuijitsu and EDF, will be taught from 2020, with the full set of T levels introduced by 2022.
The following links provide a wealth of information around T Levels as a post-16 pathway;
The following links provide a wealth of information around apprenticeships:
You may choose to pursue a career with the Armed Forces. The links below are great place to start to gain further information;
Careers websites and further information for students
You are encouraged to take responsibility for your future choices and to start reaching and planning your future. You should think about the following;
• Self-Awareness- where am I now?
• Career exploration- where do I want to be?
• Career management- how do I get there?
You should use a range of websites to develop your knowledge and understanding of your post-16/career pathway. Use the links below to help with your research;
General Careers Advice
Links are currently being updated
Now is a great time for you to be talking to your son/daughter about their choices. The careers advice for parent’s website is a great starting point to help your child explore their potential.
Understand the range of job and employment sector profiles
Science, technology, engineering and maths careers
Online careers magazines
Explore career videos, take the Buzz Quiz and focus on subjects
National online careers film and video library. Real people real jobs to help young people, students, teachers, career professionals, influencers
Information about local employment trends
Compare information about different career areas and employment trends
Information about career sectors and advice about work and university options
Advise for parents/carers of young people facing options post 18. Emphasis is on higher education, but does give advice on other options.
Thinking about choosing your A Levels
Alternatives to Higher Education
Thinking about University
Taking a Gap Year
Apprenticeships, applying to university, studying at college and the world of work
Information on apprenticeships
Researching University Courses
TheUK’s official graduate careers website , useful to look forward at what is happening in the graduate careers world, includes careers advice, information on jobs and work experience, postgraduate study, job sectors and student life.
Official data for undergraduate courses on each university and college’s satisfaction scores in the National Student Survey, jobs and salaries after study and other key information for prospective students.
Offers information and advice on applying to higher education
Database of university events for schools and colleges
Calendar of dates
Guidance on applying for finance to support university life
Information on volunteering
Information on enterprise
Local Enterprise Advisor Link
Settle College works in association with The Careers and Enterprise Company. We have a designated Local Enterprise Adviser who works alongside Miss Richards and Settle College to provide effective work and career experiences for young people.
Enterprise Advisers use their knowledge of the local business landscape to support the head teacher or careers team to develop an effective careers plan and to create opportunities with their business contacts in the area for their school or college’s students.
We are proud to be working with Paul Bradley, Managing Director of PBA Ecology. Paul is one of the country’s most experienced applied ecologists. Following first degree (1st Class Hons) in 1990, he was recruited by the University of Sheffield’s environmental consultancy (ECUS). Over 10 years at ECUS, he built a team of post-grad & post-doc ecologists, and a network of specialist associates throughout and beyond the University. Paul left his position as Principal Ecologist when ECUS left the University; establishing PBA Applied Ecology on the eve of the new Millennium.
Paul works at the highest levels in business and conservation, working confidently with leading associates, practitioners and contractors providing high quality services in applied ecology. Delivering applied research and consultancy projects as far afield as Siberia and the South Atlantic, Expert Witness services at major Inquiries, and with 20 years continuous practice experience, Paul now leads a high quality team of dedicated PBA professionals. In addition to academic and professional publications and presentations, recent mass media appearances have included national press, BBC regional and national radio, and BBC regional and national TV appearances. Paul is a committee member of the CIEEM, Yorks and Humber branch.
Baker Clause Statement
Settle College uses the Gatsby Benchmarks as a guide to plan our Careers and enrichment programme. As part of our commitment to informing our students of the full range of learning and training pathways on offer to them, we are happy to consider requests from training, apprenticeship and vocational education providers to speak to students.
Settle College also proactively seek to build relationships with these partners as we plan our Careers and Enrichment activity throughout the school year to ensure that providers have multiple opportunities to speak to students and their parents across years 7-13, to offer information on vocational, technical and apprenticeship qualifications and pathways.
Settle College ensures that staff involved in personnel guidance and pastoral support are up to date on their knowledge of these post 16 and post 18 pathways, through a programme of Continuing Professional Development.
Opportunities for providers to speak with students may include school assemblies, employer and provider engagement events or opportunities to speak with students and parents on a one-to-one basis supporting GCSE, post 16 or post 18 option choices. Settle College Careers and Enrichment programme is monitored for quality and impact by the College’s Careers officer, Senior Leadership and Governing body and monitoring of access to and opportunities to engage with, technical, vocational and training providers will form part of this process.
In the first instance, requests by providers should be sent to the College’s Careers Officer, Vicky Pettifer at, email@example.com with a minimum of 6 weeks’ lead time.
All requests will be considered on the basis of; staffing availability to support the activity, clashes with other planned activity, trips or visits to the College, interruption to preparation for examinations or rooming and space availability to host the activity.
For further information on careers please contact:-
Vicky Pettifer – Attendance and Careers Officer
Email – V.Pettifer@settlecollege.n-yorks.sch.uk
Telephone – 01729 – 822451 Ext. 203