Careers
Our Careers Intent statement - John 10:10 Live Life to the Full
Our careers vision
At St. Wilfrid's Church of England Academy we intend to provide all of our students with a rich learning experience that enables them to gain knowledge and understanding across a breadth of subjects, so that they may discover their God given gifts and talents. With this knowledge and self-belief, we provide numerous opportunities for students to explore the wealth of future careers available to them, ensuring they have a clear understanding of the necessary qualifications and range of career paths available to them. Through their learning opportunities, students will develop their employability skills to prepare them for their lifelong career and to enable them to live life to the full.
The careers curriculum
Our careers curriculum has been designed to enable all of our students to gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to embark on the career pathway that they feel is most appropriate to them. During their journey at St. Wilfrid's Church of England Academy, students will experience a comprehensive programme of careers information advice and guidance through the PSHE curriculum, explicit subject input, external visitors and bespoke careers events. These are carefully crafted for the student's stage of development and meet the Gatsby benchmarks; the hallmark of a quality careers education.
Our Careers Policy is reviewed annually and is next scheduled for review in November 2026.
Policy Statement on Provider Access
If you are an employer and would like to offer your support to our careers programme, please contact our careers lead Mr M Trohear by emailing MTrohear@saintwilfrids.com
Through personal guidance at critical stages, students will reflect on how their choices can inform their pathway and will be provided with impartial advice enabling all of our students to make informed aspirational decisions about their future.
Useful information for parents, carers and pupils
Career Exploration
The following links give you a range of websites from which young people can explore different careers they might pursue in the future. Students start to use StartProfile from Year 8.
https://lancashire.startprofile.com/page/home-page
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/careers
https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/
Getting ready for employment
All of our students currently undertake a week of work experience during Year 10. Students may wish to explore opportunities that take place outside of our local area. In order to do this they might consider virtual work experience.
Employability Skills
Barclays Life Skills offers free employability and financial education. Students and Parents and Carers can enrol at https://barclayslifeskills.com/
Virtual Work Experience
Some companies also offer virtual work experience which can take place during holidays or outside of school time. Industry specific opportunities can be found at
Voluntary Work
Students can develop employability skills through part time work, but also through volunteering in their spare time. Lancashire Volunteer Partnership advertise opportunities for you to explore.* https://lancsvp.org.uk/
*Please note that these are undertaken by the student and that St Wilfrid’s bare no responsibility for the student or placement.
How to write a CV
Students will look at how to wite a CV in Year 11. If you require additional support you can go to https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/careers-advice/cv-sections
Exploring destinations after GCSE
After GCSE students have different options available to them. A Levels, Apprenticeships, T Levels and other vocational qualifications. The links below give you more information on these.
A Levels
https://www.ucas.com/further-education/post-16-qualifications/qualifications-you-can-take/levels
To have a look at the A Levels offered by St Wilfrid’s Sixth Form click here.
Apprenticeships
https://www.apprenticeships.gov.uk/influencers/what-is-an-apprenticeship#
https://www.amazingapprenticeships.com/apprenticeships/
https://www.gov.uk/become-apprentice
https://www.ucas.com/apprenticeships/what-is-an-apprenticeship
Whilst the above links give you information on what an apprenticeship is, you can look for current opportunities at https://www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship
T Levels
This includes a search engine that enables you to find your nearest T Level provider.
Other vocational qualifications
Different colleges offer a range of vocational qualifications. Below are just some of the providers in our local area.
https://arc.eastlancslearning.ac.uk/
At the age of 18, students may consider progression to university. To explore where a university degree might take you and how you might get to university you can explore
Labour Market Information
The Local Labour Market refers to the supply and demand for labour in our local area.
The links provided below help you explore the Local Labour Market. You can explore different industrial sectors within Lancashire at
https://lancashire.startprofile.com/page/industries
The Lancashire Skills Hub provide this useful video. It describes the careers people in our area are doing now and are likely to do in the future. Alternatively you can explore their website at www.lancashireskillshub.co.uk
Careers Programme Impact
We are committed to ensuring that all students are well prepared for their next steps. The impact of our careers programme is measured through student destination data and ongoing evaluation.
Latest Year 11 Destination Data:
- Further Education: 161 students (approximately 65%)
- School Sixth Form: 73 students (approximately 29%)
- Apprenticeships: 8 students (approximately 3%)
- Work-based learning and other training: Small number of students
- Students seeking education, employment or training (NEET): 1 student (approximately 0.4%)
This demonstrates that the vast majority of our students successfully progress into sustained education, employment or training.
The curriculum is under continuous review. It will be published on the page at the start of each academic year.
If you have any questions about our careers provision, or if there is more information that you require, please contact Mr M Trohear via email MTrohear@saintwilfrids.com or on 01254 604000.