Careers Programme

We are committed to ensuring all students have access to high-quality impartial careers advice, and to employers who can help students consider their future options for employment, apprenticeships or further and higher education.

Our school delivers a comprehensive careers program designed to provide all students with the knowledge, skills, and opportunities they need to make well-informed decisions about their future careers. The program is structured to ensure it meets all the Gatsby Benchmarks and recognised best practices for career education. Below, is the outline of how our careers provision meets each of the eight Gatsby Benchmarks:

Benchmark 1 - A Stable Careers program

At Feversham Girls’ Academy students have a clear and organised careers program in place, which is mapped out across all key stages, and structured around the following six Career Development Framework (2021) areas:

• Growth Throughout Life
• Explore Possibilities
• Manage Career
• Create Opportunities
• Balance Life and Work
• See The Big Picture

This ensures that students have access to consistent and high-quality careers education from Year 7 through to Year 13. The careers program is well-promoted across the school, with clear communication to students, and delivered throughout some assemblies and tutor times.  In addition, there are blocks of lessons embedded in our Citizenship programme which utilise Unifrog (our careers platform), to provide students with a wide-ranging platform to explore different career paths, assess their interests and skills through quizzes, compare educational options like university courses and apprenticeships, and ultimately make informed decisions about their future by accessing detailed career profiles, labor market information, and application support tools, all in one place; essentially helping them navigate their career path effectively. 

All the content has regular reviews and updates to ensure it remains relevant to the changing job market and student needs.

To complement this even further, teachers link classroom learning to real-world career opportunities by running career-related events, and workshops, and organising employer encounters.   This helps students to understand the practical applications of what they are studying and to see a direct connection between their subjects and future careers.

Benchmark 2 - Learning from Career and Labour Market Information

During tutor time, we focus on important times of the year when there are national careers initiatives and deliver resources to students for National Apprenticeship Week, Green Careers Week, and National Careers Week.

Our program integrates the latest career and labour market information (LMI) into the content being delivered, and career activities, ensuring that students understand the opportunities available, including regional, national, and international job trends.

Benchmark 3 - Addressing the Needs of Each Student

We recognise that every student has different needs and aspirations.  Our careers program is personalised, offering tailored advice, support, and resources to students, taking into account their interests, strengths, and challenges by providing:

One-on-one career guidance sessions using external Careers Officers from Skills House CTE. Students receive impartial advice and explore their specific aspirations and challenges, ensuring support for those with special educational needs (SEN) or those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Benchmark 4 - Linking Curriculum Learning to Careers

We recognise that every student has different needs and aspirations.  Our careers program is personalised, offering tailored advice, support, and resources to students, taking into account their interests, strengths, and challenges by providing:

We emphasise the connection between academic subjects and real-world careers. Throughout the curriculum, students are shown how the knowledge and skills they are acquiring will apply to a range of professions. This information is interleaved into lesson resources and delivered to students as they work through their school life.

For example, students in maths learn how numerical skills are used in finance, engineering, and tech industries, while science students explore career opportunities in research, healthcare, and environmental sectors.

Benchmark 5 - Encounters with Employers and Employees

Our students regularly engage with employers, employees, and industry experts to gain insight into the world of work in our annual Careers Convention, by visiting external careers events, engaging with work experience for a week in Yr10 and Yr12, and doing industry-based visits. These encounters help students explore different career paths, understand job roles, and build connections.

Where appropriate, students are given resources so that they interact directly with professionals from a wide range of sectors, some of which include tech, healthcare and medicine, business, and creative industries.

In addition, Allied healthcare professionals come in to share information about different careers.

Benchmark 6 - Experiences of Workplaces

We ensure that all students have access to real-world work experience opportunities. These experiences are designed to help students understand workplace culture, build transferable skills, and make informed career decisions.

All Year 10 and 12 students must complete at least one week of work experience in a field of their interest.  Our In-person work experience provides these students with a genuine sense of what it's like to work in a professional setting.  In addition, KS5 students are presented with virtual work experience opportunities, if they wish to attend. All of these experiences are supported by pre-placement preparation and post-placement reflection sessions, and all are recorded on Unifrog.

Benchmark 7 - Encounters with Further and Higher Education

We provide students with opportunities to explore further and higher education options, ensuring they are well informed about potential progression routes, including college, apprenticeships, and university.

Our school invites university and apprenticeship organisations to attend our Careers Convention, as well as arrange visits to local colleges and universities, where students and parents can learn more about post-16 and post-18 education options.

Guest speakers from universities and apprenticeship schemes, and ex-students, regularly visit to provide advice on qualifications and career routes.

Benchmark 8 - Personal Guidance

We ensure that students have access to personalized career guidance that helps them make informed decisions about their future. This includes one-on-one career counselling from our External Careers Officer, who offers regular mentor meetings, and guidance on applications for further education, training, or employment.

In addition, our ‘in-house’ Careers Coordinator also offers students with personalized guidance to help them explore potential pathways, and advising on applying to colleges, apprenticeships, or jobs. Both of our advisors work closely with our students to ensure they receive ongoing support throughout their decision-making process.

By meeting all of the Gatsby Benchmarks, our school ensures that every student receives high-quality, impartial, and tailored career education. We provide broad exposure to different career pathways, real-world work experiences, and clear guidance on further education options. Through this, we aim to equip students with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to make informed decisions and successfully navigate their future career journeys.

Careers Programme Impact and Assessment

We gather feedback from students to assess their perceptions of the careers program and identify areas where they feel more support or information is needed.  After significant career events or activities, we ask students to complete surveys and evaluation forms about the relevance and quality of the event.  This helps us understand how well they feel these experiences have informed their career choices and readiness for the future.

We use the feedback to improve the content, delivery methods, and the type of opportunities provided, ensuring the program is meeting students’ needs.

Annually, we also conduct focus groups with students to reflect on what they learned, how it shaped their thinking, and how it may influence their future decisions.

These sessions help us measure the engagement of students in career events and how effectively these events inform their career decisions.

Our external, and ‘in-house’ careers advisors track student career aspirations, plans, and outcomes and meet regularly with the Director of Learning to ensure that progress is ‘on track’.

Each student has a Unifrog account and through that, we can maintain records of student engagement, and track career interests or choices. In addition, the same system tracks work experience and logs key milestones in a student’s and their parent's journey throughout.

We do an annual review of our careers provision which ensures we meet each of the eight Gatsby Benchmarks, and identify areas for further development.

Annually, we conduct an internal audit of our careers provision, using the Gatsby Benchmarks as criteria. This includes reviewing our career events, work experience opportunities, and personal guidance sessions to ensure they align with the benchmarks.

This audit ensures that our program remains comprehensive and aligned with national standards, and allows us to adapt our strategy based on any gaps or changes in student needs.

Feversham Girls' Academy career contact:

Careers Leader: Mrs Gulshana Qayoum

Click the link below to request further information:

Careers Further Information

Telephone: 01274 559 500 (Ext. 122)

The career information published here will be reviewed in June 2025.