Careers and Guidance

Our careers programme is designed to inform and inspire the next steps for our students.  As a college, it is important to us to provide information to all of our students about all the possible routes they can take.  For this reason our careers programme includes an array of activities and opportunities that advise on higher education, apprenticeships, the world of work, gap years, the armed forces and work with training. Below is a summary of our careers programme.

Summary of our careers programme

Please be advised all meetings should be scheduled in a DST slot. You cannot book a meeting at a scheduled lesson time. If are struggling to find a suitable time slot please email futures@blackpoolsixth.ac.uk and we can find you a slot. Thank you!

VIEW OUR FULL CAREERS PROGRAMME HERE

Our careers programme is reviewed annually at the end of the academic year.

To view our policy statement on provider access click here

New Enterprise Advisor for Blackpool Sixth

Georgia Thomas is the Sustainability & ESG Manager at Victrex Manufacturing Ltd, located in Thornton, Lancashire. Victrex is a world leader in PEEK and PAEK-based polymer solutions, helping customers to overcome complex design and engineering challenges.

As a born and bred local, Georgia attended Montgomery High School and then Blackpool Sixth where she studied a BTEC in Fashion Design, Spanish and French language. Post Sixth Form, Georgia opted for an apprenticeship with Blackpool & The Fylde College, gaining a position at a large national travel company. After the completion of the Business Admin qualification, Georgia successfully applied for internal promotions, twice and gained further skills, training and a second qualification in Customer Service. Taking the next step in her career, Georgia moved to a local event management company and worked as an Event Manager, organising and supporting varied events across Lancashire. In February 2018, Georgia began her role at Victrex, with several direct reports for the first time, managing a functional budget and delivering Admin services across the business. Since then, she has become the Sustainability & ESG Manager, a STEM ambassador, SIP ambassador and now an Enterprise Advisor for Blackpool Sixth to offer support and insight into the industry to young local people.

What are the Gatsby Benchmarks?

The eight benchmarks are a framework for good career guidance developed to support schools in providing students with the best possible careers education, information, advice, and guidance. They were established as part of Sir John Holman’s research into what pragmatic actions could improve career guidance in England, and lay out what a world-class career guidance system looks like. The Benchmarks form part of the careers strategy, launched December 2017.

For more information: https://www.gatsby.org.uk/education/focus-areas/good-career-guidance

• A stable careers programme – Every school and college should have an embedded programme of career education and guidance that is known and understood by pupils, parents, teachers and employers.
• Learning from career and labour market information – Every pupil, and their parents, should have access to good-quality information about future study options and labour market opportunities. They will need the support of an informed adviser to make best use of available information.
• Addressing the needs of each pupil – Pupils have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to the needs of each pupil. A school’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout.
• Linking curriculum learning to careers – All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. For example, STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths.
• Encounters with employers and employees – Every pupil should have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace. This can be through a range of enrichment activities including visiting speakers, mentoring and enterprise schemes.
• Experiences of workplaces – Every pupil should have first-hand experiences* of the workplace through work visits, work shadowing and/or work experience to help their exploration of career opportunities, and expand their networks.
• Encounters with Further and Higher Education – All pupils should understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. This includes both academic and vocational routes and learning in schools, colleges, universities and in the workplace.
• Personal Guidance – Every pupil should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a careers adviser, who could be internal (a member of school staff) or external, provided they are trained to an appropriate level. These should be available whenever significant study or career choices are being made. They should be expected for all pupils but should be timed to meet their individual needs.

How does Blackpool Sixth meet the Gatsby Benchmarks?

Blackpool Sixth supports good careers education advice, information and guidance allowing our students to make informed choices throughout their transitional stages. In addition quality careers guidance inspires students and allows them to experience and investigate their next steps in a safe and nurturing environment. The Gatsby Benchmarks provides a framework as to what a good careers provision should look like. In addition to assessing the college against the Gatsby Benchmarks we also measure the impact of our careers provision through destination, retention and attainment data.

USEFUL LINKS

Gatsby Benchmarks

• www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/schools-colleges/understand-gatsby-benchmarks
• www.gatsby.org.uk/education/focus-areas/good-career-guidance
• www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/sites/default/files/uploaded/gatsby_benchmark_toolkit.pdf

Further Reading

• https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/749151/Careers_guidance-Guide_for_colleges.pdf
• www.lancashireskillshub.co.uk/about-us/evidence-base/
• www.ons.gov.uk/
• www.nomisweb.co.uk

The Futures Team are available 8:30am-4:30pm based at the back of the Fyi computer area. 

Our main focus is to ensure all students have access to career education, development and guidance. We provide opportunities for students through 1 to 1 guidance sessions, work placements, workshops, guest speakers and career fairs. This is to highlight to students the importance of being prepared for the world of work, the skills required and how to be successful in their career plan.

The team requests that once you have booked the meeting, you follow this link to prepare using the information provided. Understanding what to expect from a face to face and becoming familiar with the meeting prior to the session will allow you to get the most out of the experience.

Click here to find out what to expect from a Futures career meeting and how to fully prepare.

Follow the link below for more information about careers:
https://sites.google.com/blackpoolsixth.ac.uk/futures/home

A Work Placement, is a period of supervised work or a virtual opportunity where students work for a company or organisation in order to gain work experience.

Work placements are a fantastic way to gain real-life work experience and can help you develop necessary skills and knowledge that employers look for. College is a great time to explore your career options and work experience can help you make an informed decision on your career intention. The type of work you complete on a work placement, will depend on the company or organisation you are working for and could include helping with day to day tasks and observation work known as ‘shadowing’. A work placement is a chance to impress a future employer and we have had students offered apprenticeships for when they have finished college and part time jobs whilst studying. At the very least you will have valuable experience to put on your CV!

We encourage all students at Blackpool Sixth to undertake some type of work experience whilst they are here with us.

It is essential for some students to complete some form of work experience, please see the HE Students and Non-HE students pages to see if this applies to you.

The Futures team are based in the FYI and available daily between 3pm – 4pm

Please contact us futures@blackpoolsixth.ac.uk