There are a variety of opportunities to explore when considering what step to take towards your future career, including full-time courses, part-time courses, degree-level courses and apprenticeships!
Careers guidance for students
The College offers information, advice and guidance to help students plan their next step after College.
This includes:
- Your Bright Future website with information & advice about opportunities, making a decision, putting plans into action, and an online jobs board.
- Group tutorials covering careers, job & university applications and money management.
- Information & resources for parents.
- Individual support for career decisions, CVs, applications, personal statements & interviews is available from Student Experience and Progression Officers.
- Guest speakers from industry and universities.
- Trips to employers and universities.
Careers plan & strategy
> College Careers Strategy (Word)
Careers, information, advice & guidance programme calendar
Our careers programme aims to ensure every learner can access information, advice and guidance to support their next steps. We believe that the programme below will support our learners to develop the right skills, knowledge and behaviours that will allow them to achieve their future career goals.
> Careers Programme (Word)
Making the decision
We understand that making decisions about your future can be challenging. Useful careers websites are listed below, and our helpful Careers Team is always on hand to talk you through your options.
t 01539 814769
Our Open Events offer a great way to explore what’s available and find the best match for you.
Useful careers websites
Inspira
> inspira.org.uk
Inspira offers free, impartial career advice to young people and adults. Book a chat with them here.
Your Bright Future
> yourbrightfuture.kendal.ac.uk
A website dedicated to your next step! It also includes a local jobs board.
Start Profile
> startprofile.com
> Start Profile for Cumbria
A free national website that covers all the stages of career planning - explore your skills & interests, see suggested careers and find relevant courses, apprenticeships and jobs close to where you live.
Prospects
> prospects.ac.uk/planner
Answer questions about what you find interesting, and they'll match you with job groups containing more than 400 job profiles.
National Careers Website
> nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk
This site includes a range of job profiles, employability tools and career advice.
Apprenticeships
> apprenticeships.gov.uk
Earn while you learn with an apprenticeship.
Volunteering
> do-it.org
A national search engine. Volunteering is a great way to discover what you like and don’t like doing. It also gives you valuable work experience, which looks fantastic on your CV. Contact employers directly if you can’t find what you are looking for.
Careers support for schools
We offer a range of free careers services to schools, including:
- Assemblies & workshops on post-16 and post-18 options
- Attendance at careers fairs
- Mock interview support
- Taster days & visits
For more information, please contact Adele Mundy, our Student Services Manager.
t 01539 814734
e adele.mundy@kendal.ac.uk
Parent/carer/guardian careers information
We understand that supporting your young person through their education and into the job market can feel overwhelming. There are many different progression routes, and the job market is constantly changing, which can make it difficult to navigate.
As a college, we are here to support both you and your young person on this journey. As our Careers Programme outlines, we offer support from the beginning. This includes taking that first step and deciding on what course to study right through to making a decision on what to do when your young person has finished their programme of study with us.
To support you with this process, we have put together some useful links below.
- Explore different jobs and career advice.
> https://nationalcareers.servic... - Different pathways for post-16.
> https://www.ucas.com/further-e... - Advice and guidance.
> https://www.ucas.com/undergrad... - Hello Future support for parents & carers.
> https://www.hellofuture.ac.uk/... - Explore local labour market information to see what jobs are in demand in Cumbria.
> https://cumbria.startprofile.c... - A parents' toolkit for career conversations.
> https://www.talkingfutures.org...
If you would like further information on how you can support your young person on their career journey, please get in touch with our Student Experience & Progression team at studentexperience@kendal.ac.uk.
Careers information for teachers
The Gatsby Benchmarks
The Gatsby Benchmarks are a key component of the government’s careers strategy, which aims to give schools and colleges guidance on how they can ensure young people have access to high-quality and impartial career guidance.
The eight Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Career Guidance 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.
We are committed to meeting our statutory obligations in regard to CEIAG (Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance), which includes the Gatsby Benchmarks.
We have developed a Careers Programme of activities and events which aims to support young people to make informed career decisions and maximise their progression. We work with a range of local and national employers, organisations and universities to provide opportunities across all of our curriculum areas, including careers fairs, guest speakers, work experience & much more.
If you would like more information on the college's careers strategy or programme, please get in touch with our Careers Lead, Rachel Ireland, at rachel.ireland@kendal.ac.uk.
You can find out more information on the Gatsby Benchmarks and useful resources on how teachers can support young people with their career decision-making in the links below.
> https://www.gatsby.org.uk/educ...
> https://www.careersandenterpri...
> https://www.careershubcumbria....
