Careers and Guidance
Have you thought about your future? College? Sixth Form? Apprenticeship?
What is your ideal job? What careers interest you?
The school contact for Careers Education, Information, Advice, and Guidance (CEIAG) is:
Mr D McNamee (Assistant Headteacher: Personal Development & Well-Being)
Tel: 0161 507 6420
Email: ephsgeneral@consilium-at.com
Consilium Academies is working with its schools to develop appropriate access arrangements which make sure all students have the chance to access a range of opportunities that provide advice and guidance on careers, including academic and technical qualifications and apprenticeships.
Our preference is to provide events that cover all opportunities and allow students to receive a balanced approach to career guidance. During this period of development, Ellesmere Park High School will allow access to recognised education and training providers to talk to students in Years 7-11 about appropriate approved programmes. The provider should email their request to the email address on the contact us page of the website, providing a range of dates and an overview of what will be offered. Unless this coincides with a scheduled career event, any additional opportunities will be offered to students & their parents at the end of the school day. Providers should be prepared to produce information, flyers, and presentations for students and parents in advance of the event as well as contact information as the school/trust will not be able to operate as a broker/manage attendance registers etc.
For any stakeholders - including employers, colleges, universities, apprenticeship providers, alumni or parents wishing to support our CEIAG programme at Ellesmere Park High School, please see our CEIAG policy and Provider Access Statement to find out more by clicking here.
Our school CEIAG overview can be found here.
How does the school measure and assess the impact of the careers programme on students?
At Ellesmere Park High School we use the Careers Compass tool to monitor and evaluate our practice against the Gatsby Benchmarks, collect student and employer feedback on CEIAG experiences and monitor NEET figures to assess the impact of our provision.
How you as an employer can help us…
At Ellesmere Park High School we are committed to the wider Greater Manchester Strategy:
"That all our young people will successfully transition out of secondary school life ready and equipped for work and life-long learning."
As an employer, you can play a significant part in helping us achieve our goal.
If you are interested in providing any of the following, we would be delighted to hear from you.
- Work Experience
- Careers Talks
- Student Mentoring
- Offering a workplace visit
- Providing resources/sponsorships
At Ellesmere Park High School, we value the importance of careers education, information and guidance (CEIAG) to support our pupils in realising their potential and the routes they can take after their GCSEs. We want to ensure our pupils have the opportunity to explore their career ideas and the pathways available to them through a variety of interactions and activities, both here in school and externally through our excellent network of partners and employers.
We strive to ensure our Careers Education & Guidance programme at Ellesmere Park High School meets all the standards outlined in the 8 Gatsby benchmarks:
- 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
The key staff responsible for leading and delivering careers in school are:
Mr S Farmer (School Careers Adviser)
Mr Farmer is a Level 6 qualified careers adviser, having had over fifteen years of experience working in Salford as a careers adviser. Mr Farmer has also completed the certificate in Careers Leadership, and works with SLT to embed the CEIAG programme throughout the school.
Mr Farmer provides individual 1:1 careers guidance for pupils, and all pupils in Y11 are offered a careers guidance appointment to discuss their post-16 options. Mr Farmer also interviews Y9 pupils ahead of KS4 option choices, and Y10 pupils in the summer term to prepare for their final school year. Y7 and Y8 pupils are also able to request careers interviews. Parents and carers are welcome to request and accompany their son/daughter to a careers meeting with Mr Farmer by contacting the school to arrange this.
Should any employers or providers wish to contact Mr Farmer he can reached via email: simon.farmer@consilium-at.com
Mr D McNamee (Assistant Head Teacher: Personal Development & Well-Being – Careers Lead)
Mr McNamee oversees Personal Development opportunities that add to the academic curriculum offer at Ellesmere Park. This includes Careers, PSHE & RSE, Citizenship, Student Leadership and the Wider Curriculum offer.
Should any employers or providers wish to contact Mr McNamee he can be reached via email: daniel.mcnamee@consilium-at.com.
Our Vision:
Our vision for Careers within Ellesmere Park High School is to prepare ALL of our students to leave school with high expectations and ambitions for themselves, including future employment prospects. We aim to promote opportunities for all and allow pupils to explore and research opportunities aligned to their individual strengths and interests. This is particularly important due to the duty for all school-leavers to remain in education or training until 18.
We want to build on our excellent network of local Post-16 providers and employers, to deliver an outstanding CEIAG programme through a variety of activities as outlined in our CEIAG Overview – this also outlines our Provider Access Statement should any visitors want to engage with our CEIAG Programme in school. We have also included our ‘Careers Feedback’ form, as we are always keen to receive feedback on our CEIAG programme to help it be as effective as possible.
Student destinations post-16:
We strive to achieve positive destinations for all our Year 11 leavers Post-16. Our pupils have a wide range of goals, interests and ambitions and there is nothing more rewarding for our staff than seeing our leavers have their hard work realised, and progress into their chosen destinations – whether this be Further Education (A-levels, T-Levels, Vocational courses etc), apprenticeships or training.
Our 2023 Leaver Destinations will be collated in November 2023, after which data will be verified and published by February 2024, in collaboration with the local Connexions partnership Career Connect and Salford City Council. Our most recent published destinations (2022 leavers) are published here.
For current pupils & parents of Year 11 (or younger!) keen on researching local Further Education options, we recommend visiting college open events (click here) to view facilities and meet with subject tutors, who will be happy to answer any direct queries.
We also recommend pupils to start exploring career sectors and LMI (labour market information) to gain further understanding of different career sectors and possible future destinations! This can be investigated using the GMCAS XELLO website (all pupils have a log on, contact Mr Farmer if unsure of login details)
Another fantastic resources for exploring careers and LMI is the Pathways website to explore a wide variety of careers and job sectors – click here to start exploring!
Other useful links:
These are some of the websites the careers team have used in school or suggested to pupils and parents to look at. Of course there are many others too! These may be a good starting point for pupils researching their career options, both in and out of school.
General Careers Websites
- GMACS: A careers portal for all pupils to start exploring their career pathways and support career exploration. All pupils will be receiving a log in for this portal in school and will be having careers lesson time on the portal. ·
- National Careers Service: Want more information on a particular job role? Check the National Careers Service website for details on skills, duties, qualifications and pay! It's also a fantastic website for careers research and learning more about labour market information (LMI)
- UCAS: General information on options at 16
- Prospects: Careers information on a variety of different job roles, including graduate careers information.
Colleges and Sixth Forms
After Ellesmere Park High School, our Y11s have progressed onto a range of qualifications including A-level studies, T-Levels and Vocational courses. Previous destinations for our pupils have included:
- Salford City College
- Loreto College
- Xaverian College
- Trafford College
- The Manchester College
- UTC Media City UK
Please view the website for further information on any of our partner colleges, or speak to Mr Farmer in school for more advice. Open events take place at colleges throughout the year, starting in September/October time, for Year 11 pupils (or younger!) to research their options.
For more general information about colleges options try….
- GOV.UK Further Education: Government website on Further Education and courses.
- GOV.UK A-Level Reforms: For information on the A-level reforms (which will affect all A-level students from 2017).
- Which? A-Level Reforms: Further advice on the A-level reforms.
- Which? A-Level Choices: Tips for choosing A-level subjects.
Apprenticeships and Training
For pupils hoping to enter the world of work immediately after GCSEs, apprenticeships are a fantastic way to get work experience AND qualifications, whilst earning a wage. Further information is below:
- Apprenticeships: Interested in an apprenticeship after GCSEs or Sixth Form? This website is a great starting point.
- GOV.UK Find Apprenticeships: Search and apply for local vacancies on the National Apprenticeship Website (Pupils in Y11 or above looking for an apprenticeship can get support from Mr Farmer, please ask for further help)
- Apprenticeship Guide: Further information and advice on apprenticeships
- Not Going to Uni: NOT keen on University? This website is great for researching alternative options (including HIGHER apprenticeships).
- GOV.UK Traineeships: Not quite ready for a full apprenticeship, or struggling to secure one? A traineeship is ideal for gaining work experience, skills, and confidence!
Some of our local apprenticeship / training providers supporting Y11 pupils with finding an employer include:
University and Higher Education
Pupils who achieve good GCSE results and progress onto advanced studies could be considering university to obtain a degree. Some careers (for example medicine, dentistry, veterinary science etc) will demand university studies.
Further research on University and Higher Education options is available below:
- UCAS: Thinking about going on to University? UCAS is the main way of applying to university by completing an online application – however the website is a great way of researching ANY UK degree course and find out about entry requirements etc.
- GM Higher: GM Higher represents FE and HE providers within Greater Manchester, aimed at raising aspirations of young people in the city and providing amazing resources, activities and support to Y9-Y11 pupils within school!
- Which?: Not sure which university to go to or what to study? This website has some great tips.
- Russell Group: Aiming for one of the Russell Group universities? Start planning ahead and research the different opportunities available, and advice on applications.
- Informed Choices: Great website for helping students plan which courses may be advised for more competitive courses and universities (particularly useful for those planning on going to a Russell Group university)
- What Uni: Start comparing and contrasting universities based on your subjects and expected grades.
- The Complete University Guide: Includes regional and national rankings and comparisons of UK universities
The information on this page will be reviewed annually. The next review date is March 2024.
College Open Events 2023/24:
Updated College Events coming soon!