Careers
Careers Education, Information Advice, and Guidance make a major contribution towards preparing young people for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life. In order to help them make a successful transition into a well-matched place of work, all young people need a planned programme of activities to help them make informed decisions.
Wadham School and sixth form are fully committed to providing a rigorous and stable CEIAG programme, and we work hard to ensure that we meet each element of the Gatsby Benchmarks and review the impact of our careers programme on an annual basis
How do we deliver careers at Wadham School?
Our careers offer is delivered in a variety of ways, which we review and adapt each year. These events include:
- Specific activities and events e.g. Careers Fair
- 1:1 Interviews
- Group work
- Curriculum and PSHE Lessons
- Alternative Timetable Days
- Careers within the curriculum
Why do we provide careers advice?
Independent and impartial careers advice is vital in schools, as well as a legal requirement. It helps students develop skills and their ability to make appropriate career decisions, allowing them to progress beyond school and into education and the world of work.
Our Careers Staff
Simon White - Deputy headteacher and SLT Career Leader (swhite@wadhamschool.co.uk)
Beth Church - CEIAG Adviser - We pride ourselves on offering all students specialist independent and impartial Career Advice and Guidance through our dedicated Careers Advisor, Beth Church. Beth holds a level 6 qualification in Careers Guidance and is based in the Sixth form. Any students wishing to book an appointment can do so by email or Teams (bchurch@wadhamschool.co.uk)
Careers Link Governor - Stuart Shepherd (sshepherd@wadhamschool.co.uk)
Sue Kinglake - Work Experience Administrator for Year 10 work experience (skinglake@wadhamschool.co.uk)
Lorrie Mahoney - Work Experience Administrator for Extended and Sixth Form work experience (lmahoney@wadhamschool.co.uk)
Andrew Jackson / Simon O'nions - Sixth Form (amjackson@wadhamschool.co.uk and sonions@wadhamschool.co.uk)
Jo Osborne - Head of Year 11 (josborne@wadhamschool.co.uk)
Sian Gray - Head of Year 10 (sgray@wadhamschool.co.uk)
Keith Allington - Head of Year 9 (kallington@wadhamschool.co.uk)
Colin Jackson - Head of Year 8 (ccjackson@wadhamschool.co.uk)
Dan Quick - Head of Year 7 (dquick@wadhamschool.co.uk)
Parent and Student Resources
Please explore the resources below to help you make informed choices.
Explore careers | National Careers Service - The National Careers Service can help you make career decisions throughout your life. From deciding your education route, planning a career change at any age, or getting the job that is right for you.
Careerpilot : Plan your future work & study - Expert career information and tools, all in one place
Career Sense (by NatWest) including the Find Your Potential quiz
My Path – Job of the Week (videos)
Youth Employment – Career advice & information for young people
icould - icould.com uses the power of personal stories to inform young people’s career choices. Run by the Education and Employers charity as part of Inspiring The Future, icould.com can be used as a standalone resource or to support Inspiring The Future’s core activities.
Skill Up Somerset - Skills Elevator
Labour Market Information (LMI)
WHAT IS LABOUR MARKET INFORMATION (LMI)?
Labour Market Information (LMI) is anything that describes the world of work, including:
- Descriptions of careers and jobs
- The promotional prospects in different careers
- The salary you can be paid
- The skills and qualifications you need for a particular job
- Where to find job vacancies
More about these types of LMI can be found on the other careers pages on the school website. LMI also includes information and statistics about the national, regional and local labour markets, as well as the future of the labour market, which is particularly important for school pupils to get a picture of what the labour market in their chosen industry might look like when they leave school and start to look for work.
We encourage students to engage with all kinds LMI on a regular basis so they can make informed careers choices and decisions, which give the best possibility to reach their potential and have a successful and happy future.
THE CAREEROMETER
The Careerometer is a widget provided by the company LMI for all which compares labour market information including average salary, hours worked, changes and growth in the industry and workforce and projections for the future for different careers, or a career of interest, with the UK average.
It is an excellent starting point for Labour Market Information research!
Resources for Choosing Which Career
Companies with Apprenticeships
Post-16 and Post-18
Post-16 Options - Routes After Year 11: Guide for Parents
Post-18 Options
HIGHER EDUCATION
WHAT IS HIGHER EDUCATION?
Higher Education (HE) is the continuation of study after the age of 18. It takes place at Universities and Further Education colleges. HE gives you the opportunity to study a subject you are interested in more closely and can boost your career prospects and earning potential. There are many different types of higher education qualifications, including:
- Diplomas
- Bachelor Degrees
- Foundation Degrees and Foundation Years
- Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs)
- Degree Level Apprenticeships
Your choice of career might be a key factor when you are deciding whether to go on to HE, and what course to take. Some careers, including medicine, dentistry, chartered engineering and architecture require you to have a degree. Other professions, such as law and speech therapy, require you to have a postgraduate qualification on top of your degree before you can practise.
Or, you may just want to study a subject that really interests you or helps you broaden your knowledge in a certain area! Although it can be helpful to have a career path in mind before choosing a course to study, a higher education qualification helps you develop skills and qualities that all employers value, such as problem-solving and communication.
CONTEXTUAL OFFERS FOR HE
A contextual offer is an offer from a university where the personal circumstances of a potential student have been taken into account. Usually, this is done to accommodate and even to attract students who have had to deal with difficult circumstances.
Universities have different criteria for who they will consider for contextual offers, and so the eligibility factors will change depending on where you are applying, but some of the most common requirements are:
- You are a first-generation HE student (the first in your family to attend university)
- You come from a low socio-economic group
- You attend a school with low progression rates
- You live in a low-participation neighbourhood or postcode area
- You have participated in an access to university or widening participation programme for a particular university for example
- You have a disability or learning difficulty
- You are a young carer
- Your school or college is eligible for contextual offers
- You are entitled to free school meals or discretionary payments
- You are a refugee or an asylum seeker
- You have spent time in care
Not all universities offer contextual offers for students, but it is unlikely that you will find any that don’t offer contextual offers in some form. If you are interested in applying to a particular university, and you would like to find out whether you are eligible for a contextual offer, you should check on their website.
FUNDING FOR HE
The cost of higher education can vary depending on where you study and the length of course.
There is a wide range of financial support available to students which can help pay tuition fees and support students through their study including bursaries and scholarships – which you do not have to pay back. You might get extra money on top of this, for example if you’re on a low income, are disabled or have children. Please see the government guide to student finance here.
For more information about Higher Education please see:
- Search and compare undergraduate courses in the UK
- Search for courses and requirements
- Information about applying for HE courses
- Next Steps South West is an outreach programme based in the South West providing impartial information about HE
SEND
SEND Resources
Imagine the Possibilities Families Guide - describes supported apprenticeships & traineeships, support for work and relevant legislation
Imagine the Possibilities Website
Somerset – Your Futures – SEND friendly website created by the Careers Hub to look into different careers, and also specific to our area.
Employers, Training Providers and PAL
At Wadham School we are busy growing your employees of the future. We welcome the help of local businesses to raise the career aspirations of our students, develop their employability skills and learn more about the exciting industries in Somerset.
We welcome Training Providers and employers to come into school and talk to our students. Please see our Provider Access Policy (previously known as the Baker Clause)
How Employers and Training Providers Can Help Our Students
- Book to attend our Careers Fair which we run each year
- Give a short careers talk about your company, apprenticeship scheme, your role and career path and answer students’ questions.
- Providing Work Experience to our students. Year 10s complete a five-day placement in July which they start arranging from December.
- Assisting with the Year 10 Mock Interview event. This is in October/November each year and around 30 interviewers are needed for either one full day or two to give all our Year 10 students an interview experience.
- We aim where possible to bring the careers and workplace application into curriculum lessons. We welcome links with employers who can contribute to a specific subject department by either allowing students to visit their company on a school trip, or come into school to deliver an aspect of subject curriculum to a class.
- If you have an apprenticeship you wish to fill please email details to Beth Church and this will be forwarded to the students who are planning the workplace and looking for that type of employment.
If you are able to assist or would like to find out more information about the work of our Careers department, please email our CEIAG Adviser Beth Church bchurch@wadhamschool.co.uk
Enterprise Adviser
Wadham School has the benefit of a key business volunteer who works with us on a strategic level, encouraging the development of our careers programme and connecting us to the business community across the county. This role is recognised nationally as an Enterprise Adviser(EA) and they are part of the Somerset Careers Hub community of support driving the connection between careers education and the business sector. Our Enterprise Adviser is Jason Miles, CiTB.
Introducing Jason Miles
I left Wadham School in 1986 becoming an apprentice Bricklayer. Employed by local companies and building on some important life skills already gathered from part-time jobs, I became qualified to Level 3. This was called Advance Craft and enabled me to develop into a more supervisor/lead construction role. To widen my knowledge, skill set, and income I worked for a landscaping company as a Team leader progressing to Works Foreman. Looking back these were some of the best working days and opportunities of my career. Always be vigilant doors open and close all the time, even for me now.
Starting my own company and developing into an employer was a huge shock and gave me a lot of understanding within the construction industry. How to plan and overcome obstacles/barriers that had never really been my concern, but you soon wake up when you are losing money! Stability was an issue for me at this time with a young family and I needed more security of income so I decided to go back to employment.
To continue my career journey for the last 14yrs I have worked for construction education Colleges, Prisons, Training centres, and at present within Construction Specialist NVQ Quality Assurance and Training. I have attended university to gain L5 and more recently L7 Leadership and Management qualification, I’m very proud of this considering my original academic level and my opinion of education when I left school. The teachers were correct, and I should have listened more at the time, but I knew best.!
I’m supporting the School with this role as Enterprise Advisor to give something back now, so if you feel I could assist you do contact me through your CEIAG Adviser at Wadham, Beth Church. I have also gained a large network of people that I may be able to support you with your chosen career path.
All the best Jason
CEIAG Policies and Programme
Destinations
Please click below for details of our student destination information as provided by CSW:
2023 Leavers
2022 Leavers
2021 Leavers
Teachers and Staff
All teachers include careers into their lessons, developing student’s employability skills. Staff have access to a wide range of resources on the school Teams channels to showcase careers in their subject lessons.
Teachers are encouraged to implement the below into the curriculum:
- have a prominent display that links subject learning and skill development to different careers
- develop links with businesses and organisations
- to invite alumni and other external speakers to come into school (virtually where an actual visit is not feasible)
- where appropriate to organise external visits for students to local businesses/organisations
- record careers learning opportunities for students in schemes of learning
- take part in whole school careers events, such as the Careers Fair by actively engaging with the exhibitors, building links in their own curriculum areas.
- consider the needs and interests of all students and ensure that information challenges career stereotyping including gender, race, and disability
Careers Newsletters
Are you a local employer looking to engage with young people? A higher education provider looking to provide our students with information or an organisation looking to undertake outreach work? If so, we would love to hear from you. Please get in touch with Beth Church