Careers and Raising Aspirations
Our careers provision is carefully structured and aligned with the Gatsby Benchmarks, ensuring that students in Years 8 to 11 receive comprehensive guidance and exposure to a wide range of future pathways. Year 7 will be fully involved from this academic year.
We have successfully embedded the Gatsby Benchmarks into our careers strategy. By doing so, we ensure that all students receive high-quality careers education that meets national standards and provides them with opportunities to explore a variety of career paths. Examples of this are, a careers program mapped to all 8 Gatsby Benchmarks, regularly reviewed and audited – Compass+, Regular updates and reviews of careers provision, ensuring alignment with evolving national standards and student needs.
Our students are provided with unbiased, high-quality information about potential next steps, including further education, apprenticeships, and employment. This is done through careers interviews, workshops, and presentations by various education and training providers. South Essex College and Barking & Dagenham College spoke to Year 9 pupils, ensuring students were exposed to a range of post-16 options. New City College provide guidance to Year 10 and 11 students, helping them explore potential next steps. Drapers Sixth Form, Shenfield Sixth Form, and St Martins Sixth Form provide further education options and advice to Year 11 students. ASK Apprenticeships deliver talks to Year 11 pupils, ensuring that apprenticeship opportunities were fully explained.
Careers interviews are carried out every other Tuesday by Prospects provide individualised, one-on-one guidance to students.
We ensure that our students have meaningful and engaging encounters with the world of work through events and partnerships with employers. These include Federation of Master Builders for Year 8 students, West London careers speaker delivering workshops to Years 8 and 9 on future careers. The Brilliant Club is a very successful Scholars Programme, targeting disadvantaged pupils and supporting their aspirations toward attending competitive universities. Year 10 College Taster Day, offering students a real-life experience of post-16 education environments and the chance to explore vocational and academic pathways.
Our careers provision enables a wide range of education and training providers to engage with our students, helping them make informed decisions about their future. This includes further education colleges, sixth form providers, apprenticeship schemes, and more. Visits and presentations from South Essex College, Barking & Dagenham College, New City College, and local sixth forms. Engagement with apprenticeship providers such as ASK Apprenticeships, ensuring students understand vocational training routes alongside traditional academic pathways. Regular visits from universities, offering information on higher education, including entry requirements and available courses.
We actively embed careers education across our curriculum to ensure that all students, regardless of their subjects, have access to career-related learning. Subject teachers incorporate careers-related discussions and industry links into their teaching, helping students make connections between their learning and future career opportunities. Careers elements embedded in subjects such as Science (STEM), Business Studies, and English, with students exploring real-world applications of their studies and related career options. Cross-curricular projects, such as entrepreneurial challenges or Science (STEM) industry projects, offering students insight into career possibilities in these sectors.
We rigorously track the impact of our careers provision through feedback from students and staff. This feedback indicates high satisfaction with the careers guidance and support provided.
Regular reviews of careers provision effectiveness and adjustments made based on feedback and evolving needs.
Key contact details
For further information, please contact Linda Nnene, our Student Pathways IAG and Brilliant Club Coordinator or Ben Dowsey, our Work Related Learning Coordinator:
Email: nnenel@mpa.swecet.org or dowseyb@mpa.swecet.org
Telephone: 01708 724134
You can also follow us on Twitter @MPA_Careers
Relevant Policies/Information
General Careers Websites
National Careers Service
BBC Bitesize Careers
Prospects
How 2 Become
University
UCAS
Complete University Guide
The Times Good University Guide
Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships (Gov)
Not going to Uni
Life Skills
Barclays Life Skills
IBM Skills Build
Careers Platforms
Career Pilot
Start Profile
Career Sector Websites
Accountancy
Working with animals
Armed Forces
Banking
British Airways
Construction
Engineering
Careers in finance
IT Careers
Legal Careers
Royal Navy
Royal Air Force
NHS Careers
Sport
STEM Careers
Stockbroking
Surveying
TFL
UK Power networks
The Job Crowd is the equivalent of a trip advisor for jobs, every year it produces a list of the top employers for apprentices and graduates. Below is a summary of web links for all these companies as well as the job crowd website.
The Job Crowd – Top companies for Apprentices to work for
Cadent
NFU Mutual
Irwin Mitchell
Virgin Media 02
Lockheed Martin
AA
Galliford Try
TJX Europe
Bank of England
Severn Trent
RWE
Capacitas
ISG
Croudace
Thames Water
John Sisk & Son Ltd
DSTL
Menzies
Bakkavor
Kent County Council
DHL
Anglian Water
British Airways
Chaucer
Grant Thornton
Alzheimer’s Society
KPMG
Pinsent Masons
Bryan Cave Leighton Palsner
Savills
The Job Crowd – Top companies for Graduates to work for
TPP
Ten10
RWE
HAYS
Autodesk
Hunter Selection
Fraser Nash Consultancy
Severn Trent
Swiss Re
Berkeley Group
Menzies
Lockhead Martin
Irwin Mitchell
NFU Mutual
Johnson & Johnson
Mayer Brown
Cadent
TJX Europe
Bakkavor
ISG
Bank of England
Reed
Virgin Media 02
Galliford Try
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
John Sisk & Son
DHL
Kent County Council
DSTL
Thames Water
Croudace
Capacitas
Port of London Authority
Mott Macdonald
Barclays
Nationwide
AkzoNobel
Anglian Water
Boots
PA Consulting group
Pinsent Masons
Cancer Research UK
ALDI
Grant Thornton
KPMG
British Airways
Chaucer
Year 11 Activity Surveys - Leavers
Activity Survey 2019 Leavers
Activity Survey 2020 Leavers
Activity Survey 2021 Leavers
Activity Survey 2022 Leavers
Activity Survey 2023 Leavers
