At St John Plessington Catholic College, we are committed to providing high-quality careers education, information, advice and guidance that helps every student make informed and ambitious choices about their future. Rooted in our Catholic ethos, we encourage every young person to recognise their individual gifts and talents, develop their aspirations and consider how these can contribute positively to their future and the wider community.

Throughout their time with us, students have opportunities to explore a wide range of careers and understand the full range of education, training and employment pathways available to them, including technical education and apprenticeships. Students engage with employers and further and higher education providers and are supported to access impartial information and guidance that reflects their individual interests, strengths and aspirations.

As part of our Belong curriculum, every pupil from Year 7 to Year 13 receives a dedicated weekly Careers and Citizenship session. Embedding careers education within the weekly curriculum ensures that it is a consistent and protected entitlement for all pupils. It also helps us to reduce barriers to access and ensure that every pupil, regardless of background or circumstance, has regular opportunities to develop their knowledge, broaden their aspirations and prepare for their next steps. Our wider careers programme is structured around the updated eight Gatsby Benchmarks and includes careers education, encounters with employers and employees, experiences of workplaces, encounters with further and higher education and training providers, and opportunities for personal careers guidance. The current DfE guidance expects institutions to use the updated Gatsby Benchmarks and to provide impartial guidance covering the full range of academic, technical, vocational and apprenticeship routes. GOV.UK

Unifrog

We use Unifrog as an important part of our careers programme. Unifrog enables students to explore career ideas, compare post-16 and post-18 options, research universities, apprenticeships and other pathways, and record their activities and achievements.

Unifrog complements careers lessons, employer and provider encounters, workplace experiences and personal guidance, helping pupils to make informed decisions and prepare confidently for their next steps.
Our Careers Programme

A summary of our Careers Programme for Years 7–13 can be found here: [LINK TO CAREERS PROGRAMME OVERVIEW]

Pupils and parents/carers can access information about our careers programme through this website and Unifrog. Staff, employers and education or training providers wishing to find out more about, contribute to or access our careers programme should contact the school office in the first instance.

Pupils can access personal careers guidance at key transition points and where additional support is required.

Evaluating Our Careers Programme

We regularly evaluate the quality and impact of our careers provision. This includes reviewing our progress against the Gatsby Benchmarks through Compass+, analysing participation and destinations information, and gathering feedback from pupils, parents/carers, staff, employers and education and training providers.
This information informs the ongoing development of our careers programme and helps us ensure that provision continues to meet the needs of our pupils.

1. A stable careers programme

• Careers is a protected curriculum entitlement from Years 7–13, delivered through a dedicated weekly Careers and Citizenship session within the Belong curriculum.

• The programme is structured around the eight Gatsby Benchmarks.

• Pupils, parents/carers, staff, employers and providers can access information about the programme.

• Unifrog supports consistent careers learning and recording.

• Provision is regularly evaluated using Compass+, participation data, destination information and stakeholder feedback.

• Careers information has a scheduled review date of September 2027.

2. Learning from career and labour market information

• Pupils use Unifrog to investigate careers and different progression routes.

• Careers education enables pupils to compare academic, technical, vocational and apprenticeship pathways.

• Pupils explore career opportunities and the education/training required to access them.

• Careers learning helps pupils make informed choices based on their interests, strengths and aspirations.

3. Addressing the needs of each young person

• Careers education is provided to every pupil from Year 7–13, reducing barriers to participation.

• The programme is designed to broaden aspirations regardless of background or circumstance.

• Unifrog allows pupils to explore pathways linked to their individual interests and aspirations and record their activities and achievements.

• Personal careers guidance is available at key transition points and where additional support is required.

• Participation and destinations data are analysed to evaluate whether provision is meeting pupils’ needs.

4. Linking curriculum learning to careers

• Careers education is explicitly embedded within the Belong curriculum through weekly Careers and Citizenship sessions.

• Pupils are encouraged to recognise their individual gifts, talents and strengths and relate these to future pathways.

• Careers education helps pupils understand the relationship between their learning, transferable skills and future education, training and employment.

• Unifrog complements curriculum-based careers learning.

5. Encounters with employers and employees

• The wider careers programme provides pupils with encounters with employers and employees.

• Employers are invited to contribute to the careers programme.

• Encounters complement the careers curriculum and allow pupils to learn directly about employment, workplaces, skills and career pathways.

• Employer feedback contributes to the evaluation and development of careers provision.

6. Experiences of workplaces

• The careers programme includes experiences of workplaces.

• These experiences complement classroom careers education, employer encounters and personal guidance.

• Pupils have opportunities to develop their understanding of workplace expectations, employment and different occupational sectors.

7. Encounters with further and higher education

• Pupils have opportunities to engage with further education, higher education and training providers.

• The programme explicitly includes technical education and apprenticeships, alongside academic routes.

• Unifrog enables pupils to research and compare universities, apprenticeships and other post-16/post-18 pathways.

• The college has a Provider Access Policy Statement setting out arrangements for technical education and apprenticeship providers to access pupils.

8. Personal guidance

• Pupils can access personal careers guidance at key transition points.

• Additional guidance is available where individual pupils require further support.

• Guidance is intended to be impartial and to reflect pupils’ individual interests, strengths and aspirations.

• Personal guidance works alongside Unifrog, curriculum learning, employer encounters and provider encounters to support informed next-step decisions.

Provider Access

We are committed to ensuring that pupils have meaningful opportunities to hear directly from providers of technical education and apprenticeships.

Our Provider Access Policy Statement, which sets out the arrangements for providers wishing to access pupils and explains how we meet our statutory provider-access duties, can be found here: [UPDATED PROVIDER ACCESS POLICY LINK]

Next review of careers information: September 2027.