Sixth Form

Prospectus

UCAS Guidance

Student Handbook

Drag to scroll

Careers and Progression

Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG)

A young person's career is their pathway through learning and work. All young people need a planned programme of activities to help them make the choices that are right for them and to be able to manage their careers throughout their lives.          

We aim to equip our students with the knowledge, skills and attributes to make the most of changing opportunities in learning and work. At Rossett all students will follow a planned Careers Education Information and Guidance programme, which will help them to make these important decisions.

CEIAG is delivered to all students in Years 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and Sixth Form. The programmes for delivery to Years 7, 8, 9, 10 & 11 are separately organised from the Year 12 & 13 programmes, where the responsibility for their management rests with the Sixth Form Leadership Team.

The delivery of the careers programme for all students is through Personal Development lessons, combined with support from the Careers Adviser, the Careers Leader, careers themed assemblies, off-timetable days, external visitors such as employers, guest speakers and visits to external organisations and events.

Aims of Rossett Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance

To encourage all students to recognise and value their own skills and abilities, and to appreciate their relationships with, and responsibilities towards other people, the community and environment
To develop the skills which will help students make informed and realistic choices for their future
To enable students and parents to be aware of the alternatives and opportunities open to them at different stages of their life and to raise their aspirations
To develop the skills, including communication and confidence that will be needed in new roles and situations
To encourage understanding and experience of the world of work through WRL and enterprise activities
To promote equality of opportunity and respect of race, religion, gender, disability and combat stereotyping
To develop students’ capabilities and to understand their own needs and abilities
To encourage students to investigate careers opportunities both locally and nationally and through direct experience of the world of work, work related learning and enterprise activities

Students can expect to:

Learn about key people who can help with education, careers and any other personal, health or financial problems
Know how to access up-to-date, relevant information Receive impartial careers advice and guidance which raises aspirations, promotes equality of opportunity, celebrates diversity, and challenges stereotypes
Get reliable information on the guarantee of an offer of further learning at key points
Understand and be aware of financial help they can access to stay in education e.g. student bursaries
Know where to get help after 19 years of age (24 years if they have an EHCP)

The Careers Programme Years 7-13

The provision of Careers Education is embedded into the weekly Personal Development lessons at Rossett School. The lessons delivered have been developed by the career platform, Unifrog, which has developed a spiral curriculum using the CDI (Career Development Institute) learning aims. Each lesson is mapped against the CDI framework and the Gatsby Benchmarks. An overview of what is covered in lessons for each year group throughout the academic year is summarised below.

Year 7

In Year 7 students learn:

Who am I? Students develop self-awareness skills by reflecting on their likes, cultural heritage, connections and interests. They will also explore how some characteristics are protected by law.
Exploring possibilities: dream jobs. Students analyse the skills and themes relating to their dream job and explore other careers with shared characteristics.
What is a career? Students explore how a career can be defined as a career journey, identifying activities that form part of their career journey and look towards career ideas for the future.
What is an entrepreneur? Students explore what it means to be entrepreneurial, considering the importance of taking initiative and learning from role models.
What is a work-life balance? Students explore the importance of maintaining a work-life balance and investigate strategies that will enable them to do so.
Careers and the future. Students explore some examples of how employment today is different to employment in the past and they consider the skills that are predicted to be essential for the future workforce.
Careers and the future. Students explore some examples of how employment today is different to employment in the past and they consider the skills that are predicted to be essential for the future workforce.

Year 8

In Year 8 students learn:

What are my interests? Students create a collage of their interests, exploring what they're proud of and connect their interests and achievements with different careers.
Job applications: superhero CVs. Students explore what goes into a CV. They work in teams to create a resume for a superhero of their choice.
Challenges and rewards of work. Students reflect on the challenges and rewards associated with being a student and explore the challenges and rewards associated with being in employment.
Creating the life you want: making a vision board. Students explore what they might want their life to look like in the future. They create a vision board digitally or by hand using templates as a guide.
What does success mean to me? Students explore the concept of being successful in their career journey, considering different ways of defining success in life and work.
Careers and the climate. Students explore some examples of green jobs and sustainable degrees, considering how future career pathways and green skills can help to protect the planet.

Year 9

In Year 9 students learn:

What are my skills? Students explore the importance of skills for the workplace and reflect on how transferable skills help us to prepare for the jobs of the future.
What comes after school: the main learning pathways. Students explore the different learning pathways that could lead to them to reaching their career goals.
Decision making: choosing what to study at KS4. Students explore the next steps they need to take in advance of choosing their Key Stage 4 optional subjects.
Taking control of your career journey. Students explore needs and want and how this relates to career planning. They identify how students could take the initiative in various scenarios, explore barriers people may face in their career journey, and how to overcome them.
Working and earning: managing your money. Students explore their employment rights as young workers in the UK and discuss the importance of budgeting when managing an income.
What is the labour market and why is it important? Students explore what the labour market is and how to identify and use different types of labour market information. They also explore what can influence the labour market and use Unifrog tools to explore how labour market information can help them make more informed choices.

Year 10

In Year 10 students learn:

Reflecting on my career journey: past, present and future. Students reflect on their career journey so far by completing a career journey timeline template.
Exploring employer profiles. Students are introduced to the employer profiles within the Know-how library, to explore what it’s like to work at some of the world’s largest companies.
What type of career is best for me? Students explore the four different types of career (single track, serial, portfolio and lifestyle) and decide which one could be right for them.
Preparing to go on work experience. Students learn how to prepare for going on work experience, identifying how to get the most out of work experience and preparing goals for their own work experience.
Wellbeing in the workplace. Students explore the concept of wellbeing in the workplace, including mental health, rights and responsibilities, discrimination, and health and safety.
In person, hybrid, and remote: what works best? Students explore the pros and cons of different work environments and reflect on which they think would be best for them.

Work Experience

At Rossett, all students in Years 10 will have the chance to undertake a period of work experience. Work experience gives students a fantastic opportunity to apply their skills and build their confidence in a work setting. For some, this will be their first experience of hands-on learning in a working environment, and a chance to explore what would be expected of them.

As well as providing first-hand experience, the skills that students develop will enhance their CV, provide them with examples to talk about on application forms and in interviews, and enhance their personal statement if they choose to apply to university. Many employers are happy to provide a reference, and students who demonstrate an exceptional work ethic and willingness to learn could even be offered future opportunities with that employer.

Year 11

In Year 11 the careers programme is delivered through form time, assemblies and off timetable events, where students learn:

What are my employability skills? Students explore the skills that are valued by a range of employers and reflect on the best ways to record these skills.
Post 16 - Choices, Choices. Students compare the pathways available to them after school, including education, employment, and apprenticeships.
Decision making: choosing your post-16 pathway. Students focus on how to make informed decisions around their post-16 pathways.
Researching volunteering and paid work. Students explore the benefits and drawbacks of different types of paid work and volunteering. They reflect on what types of paid work and volunteering opportunities are more suitable for them.
Money talks: apprenticeships vs. higher education. Students will explore the pros and cons of apprenticeships and higher education pathways, focusing upon the financial implications.
Is AI a threat to our jobs? Students debate the question 'is AI a threat to our jobs?' by considering what tasks are performed best by AI and what tasks are performed best by a human.

In addition to this, students will:

Access and use the ‘Unifrog’ website, to locate courses which interested them
Be given information about the Post 16 opportunities at Rossett School and other Post 16 providers
Learn how to apply for these options
Understand the importance of extra-curricular activities for increasing their employability

Year 12

In Year 12, students follow a comprehensive careers programme to ensure that they are fully informed and have the knowledge and skills needed to make the decisions for the next stage in their career journey. During their Personal development lessons, they will learn about:

Study Skills: Students reflect on the transition from GCSE to Sixth Form to understand growth mindset and the importance of study skills at Sixth Form and how they support success.
Career goals and next steps: students consider their future career goals, and the journey needed to reach them. Students are introduced to UCAS.
Interview skills: students learn and practice interview techniques through role play, to understand the fundamentals of performing well at interview.
Unifrog: students explore Unifrog to understand how it will help them with their progression through Sixth Form and beyond.
Unifrog MOOCS: students learn about MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), what they are, why they are useful and which ones relevant to individuals.
Unifrog Core Competencies: students continue to use Unifrog to understand their competencies and to begin gathering materials for personal statements and covering letters, that can be used for applications to either University, Apprenticeships or employment.
UCAS registration: students know how to register with UCAS via UCAS Hub and begin to answer the structured questions (2025 UCAS is making changes and replacing personal statements with six key questions).
Unifrog shortlisting: students understand how to use the university tool and the apprenticeship tool on Unifrog.
Work experience preparation: Students learn how to prepare for going on work experience, identifying how to get the most out of work experience and preparing goals for their own work experience.
UCAS applications: students to know both the UCAS early application and UCAS main application deadlines, the importance of open days and to continue work on UCAS structured questions.

In addition to career related assemblies, Year 12 have an off-timetable week with a specific focus on careers and future choices. The activities involve:

UCAS convention
National Apprenticeship Show
A careers workshop and Employers’ Fair

Work Experience

At Rossett, all students in 12 will have the chance to undertake a period of work experience. Work experience gives students a fantastic opportunity to apply their skills and build their confidence in a work setting. For some, this will be their first experience of hands-on learning in a working environment, and a chance to explore what would be expected of them.

Year 13

In Year 13, students continue to focus on their next step as they prepare to move from Sixth Form into Further Education, Higher Education, Training or Employment. During their lessons and tutor time they will focus on:

Career goal setting: for year 13 and beyond
UCAS: the application process revisited
UCAS: personal statements and early applications
UCAS: replying to Offers and UCAS – Extra workshop
Degree Apprenticeships and other apprenticeships: for non-university applications

In addition to Personal Development lessons, Year 13 have assemblies and off-timetable events with a specific focus on careers and future choices. The activities involve:

National Apprenticeship Show
Transition post-18
Personal Finance - 2 workshops
Life Skills: Living on a budget

All Year Groups

All Year groups

All students attend our Annual Careers Fair to facilitate meaningful interactions with employers, training providers, further and higher education establishments
Assemblies are organised for all year groups to hear from external providers
Our Careers Advisor provides optional individual meetings with students/parents at parents evening and by appointment
Interviews/support provided on A-Level results and GCSE results day to any students needing advice and guidance
Individual student interviews are provided across years 8 -13. Student needs are prioritised for interview
Information is posted on the careers noticeboard in main school and sixth form
Careers Bulletin shared with parents, students and staff via the weekly newsletter
Sixth form notices include apprenticeship vacancies/ pathways information/ university courses targeted at widening participation
Access to career planning software on all computers and iPads; namely Unifrog
Website links from Rossett School website signposted to a range of up-to-date Careers websites (available to students and parents)
Destination data for Years 11 and 13 is collected and shared with the local authority at key points during the year
All faculties sign post careers related to their subjects through displays and links to external speakers and visits

Rossett Sixth Form - Science Students (2)

As a Parent/Carer, you are entitled to be able to:

Access information, which is unbiased, up to date, and covers all the options available
Discuss careers issues with the school careers advisor at parents’ evenings, and be involved in the guidance process
Attend student careers guidance meetings

Frequently Asked Questions

For any questions, please contact our Careers Adviser, Emmi Wainwright

What happens in a personal career guidance meeting?

Our meeting is an opportunity to think about where you are now, what you might like to do in the future, and what happens in between. You will be given the space to explore your ideas, work through your thinking and decision making, and to ask questions. We will talk about:

Things you like and don’t like
Your strengths and interests What is important to you
What motivates you Your experiences of work so far
What your personality is like When you do your best work and learning
Who else is important to you on your career journey

Personal career guidance gives you the space to:

Think about who you are and how you feel right now
Understand what is important to you and what you might want from the future
Reflect on your own experiences

What will happen in our meeting?

Once you feel comfortable, and we have agreed how we will work together, I will ask you about how things are going so far, and about your ideas for the future.

You can decide what you think it would be most helpful to focus on to start moving you forwards.

We will summarise our conversation in a format that works for you. We will think about the steps you want to take and any support you might need.

What will our careers meeting be like?

It will be a relaxed two-way conversation. It is not a formal meeting or an interview.

There are no right or wrong answers. You can be honest about your thoughts and feelings and you can decide how much information you want to share.

Your opinions are important, and you do not have to agree with the careers advisor.

YOU are in the driving seat. We won't tell you what to do but will work alongside you to explore options and opportunities.

You can let your careers advisor know how you prefer to communicate. If something isn't working we can try something else.

Importantly:

Don't worry if your careers advisor asks a question and then goes quiet. She is just giving you time to think. There is no rush to come up with an answer. It is important you have the time and space to really think about how you feel
Don't worry if you don't understand what what you are being asked. Just let your careers advisor know you are not sure what is meant, and she will rephrase the question
Don’t worry about confidentiality. You are free to talk about our meeting with others, but we won't, UNLESS you ask us to speak to someone on your behalf, OR you tell us something that makes us think you or someone else is at risk of harm. This would need to be passed on to the safeguarding team

What will happen after your meeting

You will receive a summary of the key points we talked about and an action plan. This will include links to resources that might help you to make positive decisions about your next steps.

If you would like a follow-up meeting to get some more support or ask more questions, please let your Form Teacher know.

Feedback on your careers meeting is always welcome. Following the meeting you will be asked to complete a short feedback form to ensure we are constantly improving the support we offer.

How do I prepare for our meeting

Think about the choices you need to make. How do you feel about making those choices? What support and resources might you need to help you make those choices?

You might like to start researching your options. The following are good places to start

The National Careers Service

Prospects

Think about what you would like to get out of the meeting. This is your careers meeting, so think about what would make it worthwhile for you, and how best you feel I could help.

Can I do work experience?

At Rossett, all students in Years 10 and 12 will have the chance to undertake a period of work experience. Work experience gives students a fantastic opportunity to apply their skills and build their confidence in a work setting. For some, this will be their first experience of hands-on learning in a working environment, and a chance to explore what would be expected of them.

What is work experience?

Work experience can take place in the workplace or virtually. It allows you to experience what it is like to undertake a job, supervised by staff who already work in the environment.

It can vary from ‘tasters’ lasting just a few hours, through to programmes over one or two weeks, a few months, or even a year.

Some work experience placements offer a hands-on experience, while some provide observation, work shadowing and insights. All placements can provide a valuable experience to help you bridge the gap between school and work.

Work experience can: Confirm your career ideas, or completely change your mind Open your eyes to jobs you may never have considered Provide valuable experience for job, college or university applications Give you a chance to prove yourself to an employer Help you understand the attitudes and behaviours expected at work.

How can you get work experience?

Think Outside the Box

Think about different ways you could get work experience to set yourself apart. Below are some suggestions to help you gain work experience

Do some volunteering Volunteering can help you try new things, meet new people, build new skills and gain confidence. Volunteering opportunities for under 18's can be found here You could also have a look at the experiences available here

Get a part-time job

Go to face-to-face or virtual company events and open days

Help friends or family with a business

Set up your own small business enter competitions and skill challenges like World Skills

Go to work with a parent or guardian

Think about the different jobs people do at Rossett, and see if you could talk to them about their role (eg Catering, Human Resources, Finance, Maintenance, Teaching, Learning Support, Marketing and Communications, Careers, Administration)

Work shadowing provides a chance to watch someone doing a job for a day or a few days. You could do this to find out about a job role. If you already have a part-time job, you could use it to explore opportunities for personal development or a promotion. You could ask your manager if you could shadow someone in another department e.g. Finance, Marketing or Human Resources.

Some virtual work experience opportunities can be found at the follow:

Allied Heathcare Mentor (cost involved and prices start from £10 a day)

Barclays Life Skills

Barclays Life Skills with a 'digital transformation' agency

Brighton and Sussex Medical School

Future First - develop skills across various industries

Future Learn - exploring the vertinary profession

Forage

Investin (cost involved and prices start from £90)

Leonardo - Engineering

National Cyber Security Centre (CyberFirst)

Springpod

Premed Projects Live TV - cost involved

Speakers For Schools

The Lawyer Portal

Virtual Work Experience Services (cost involved)

Youth Employment UK

Additional resources for parents and students

We aim to ensure that our students, their parents and carers have access to useful careers resources whenever you need them.

Please find below links to a range of career management and development resources. Many of the documents have links within them to further information and websites. We will regularly update these resources, but if you have any suggestions for additional resources you would find useful please email Mrs Wainwright

Apprenticeships

Rossett Apprenticeships Newsletter for Parents

The Parents' Guide to National Apprenticeship Week 2024

CHOICES Magazine (September 2024)

CHOICES Magazine (October 2024)

Black Apprenticeship Network

Meet Emmanuella
Meet Princess
Meet Sewa
Meet Natasha
Meet Nivia
Meet Malachi
Meet Lamar

LGBTQ+

A Guide to Apprenticeship Applications

Your Step-by-Step Guide to Applying for an Apprenticeship

A Guide to Apprenticeship Interviews

Career Starter Apprenticeships

Apprenticeship Activity Pack for Students in Years 12 to 13

A Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up An Account on Find An Apprenticeship

Care Experienced Young People and Care Leavers

Higher and Degree Apprenticeships Listing

Top Tips to Find a Green Apprenticeship

Gatsby Benchmarks

Resources for Teaching Staff

Good careers education can inspire students, develop their awareness of their own strengths, interests and motivations, and improve social mobility. It can open students’ eyes to careers they may never have considered and enables them to make informed decisions about their next steps. Research shows that effective careers education leads to improved behaviour, motivation and attainment. Please click on the link below for a range of useful resources to help you link curriculum learning to careers.

The Gatsby Benchmarks

The Gatsby benchmarks are a set of eight benchmarks of good career guidance developed by Sir John Holman on behalf of the Gatsby Foundation. The benchmarks define what world-class careers provision in education looks like and provide a clear framework for organizing the careers provision at schools and colleges. The benchmarks are:

A stable careers programme
Learning from career and labour market information
Addressing the needs of each pupil
Linking curriculum learning to careers
Encounters with employers and employees
Experiences of workplaces
Encounters with further and higher education
Personal guidance

Read more about the benchmarks here: The Gatsby Benchmarks

Benchmark 4: Linking Curriculum Learning to Careers

“All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths”

To support teaching staff to do this, we have included the following useful websites, which include videos, lesson plans and resources for embedding careers across the curriculum:

Gatsby Benchmark 4 | CEC Resource Directory (careersandenterprise.co.uk)

Careers_in_the_curriculum_report_what_works.pdf (careersandenterprise.co.uk)

Careers – BBC Bitesize

LifeSkills | Developing work and life skills (barclayslifeskills.com)

HOME | MYPATH Careers Resources (mypathcareersuk.com)

home – icould– Real life careers videos, advice and information to inspire career decision making

Career sectors and professions for school leavers | TARGET careers

Teaching resources | My World of Work

The WOW Show launches Careers Guides for lockdown – The WOW Show

Science & Maths Websites

https://nustem.uk/careers-worksheets/

https://nustem.uk/careers-worksheets/#employers

https://nustem.uk/careers-postcards/

https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/career-planning

https://www.stepintothenhs.nhs.uk/

https://edu.rsc.org/future-in-chemistry

https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/collection/103798/stem-careers-toolkit

Science Crime Investigation Workshops – http://www.scihigh.co.uk/

https://neonfutures.org.uk/

https://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/he-unboxed/subject/scienceandmaths/

https://www.thewowshow.org/careers-guides/

https://futurumcareers.com/resources

https://www.sepnet.ac.uk/outreach/schools/connect-physics/

https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/collection/103798/stem-careers-toolkit

https://www.allaboutstem.co.uk/resources/

https://findingada.com/resources/resources-for-schools/useful-resources/

https://www.hs2.org.uk/in-your-area/education/

https://www.firstcareers.co.uk/subjects/biology/

https://www.firstcareers.co.uk/subjects/chemistry/

What is chemical engineering? – whynotchemeng – IChemE

Inspiring Tomorrow’s Engineers – Tomorrow’s Engineers (tomorrowsengineers.org.uk)

STEM Careers - Search – D&T Association (data.org.uk)

Home – Maths Careers

History Websites

Researching the lives of outstanding achievers from a wide range of backgrounds to promote discussion of the factors involved in success including aspiration, enterprise and resilience (History)

https://www.history.org.uk/secondary/categories/oa-marketing-history

https://successatschool.org/advicedetails/210/Why-Study-History%3F

Geography Websites

https://www.geography.org.uk/Teaching-resources

https://www.firstcareers.co.uk/subjects/geography/

Modern Foreign Languages Websites

Identifying the reasons why students should understand other cultures and languages at work.

https://www.firstcareers.co.uk/subjects/foreign-languages/

https://www.all-languages.org.uk/research-practice/why-study-languages/making-the-case-resources/

https://www.theguardian.com/education/series/the-case-for-language-learning

Psychology Websites

https://careers.bps.org.uk/

https://www.firstcareers.co.uk/subjects/psychology/

Sociology Websites

https://www.firstcareers.co.uk/subjects/sociology/

Creative and Performing Arts

Find your perfect role in the creative industries – Creative Careers (discovercreative.careers)

How our School Measures and Assesses the Impact of our Careers Programme on Pupils

The careers programme at Rossett School is reviewed regularly so we can closely look at the needs of our students and how we can best meet them.

Careers education is delivered and assessed as an integral part of the Personal Development programme which is reviewed annually.

Students' knowledge, understanding and progress is measured through students' completion of the Career and Enterprise Company's, Compass + Future Skills Questionnaire, which enables us to identify specific areas of strength and areas for further development.

CEIAG policy is reviewed annually, and destination data enables us to monitor the progression of our students and the impact of the CEIAG provision.

Ongoing feedback and evaluations from careers activity is collected during the year as we recognise the important role that students, parents, employers and other external providers have in shaping a child’s career development and the responsibility we have as a school to provide an aspirational, supportive and effective careers programme for all.

Careers and Progression

Aims of Rossett Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance

Students can expect to:

The Careers Programme Years 7-13

Work Experience

As a Parent/Carer, you are entitled to be able to:

Frequently Asked Questions

Think Outside the Box

Apprenticeships

Black Apprenticeship Network

CV and Cover Letter Resources

Enterprise and Entrepreneurship

Finding a Job

Interview Preparation

Labour Market Information

SEND Resources

Thinking about University

Volunteering

Work Experience

Resources for Teaching Staff

The Gatsby Benchmarks

Benchmark 4: Linking Curriculum Learning to Careers

Science & Maths Websites

History Websites

Geography Websites

Modern Foreign Languages Websites

Psychology Websites

Sociology Websites

Creative and Performing Arts

How our School Measures and Assesses the Impact of our Careers Programme on Pupils