Careers

Our careers education programme which runs through Years 7 – 13 makes a significant contribution to preparing our students for the opportunities and experiences of life. As adults, our students will need to be able to adapt to changing employment patterns so that they are able to operate in a climate of competition and be willing to develop new knowledge, transferable skills and competences throughout their working lives.

This is increasingly important as all pupils have to be in education or training until 18. The careers programme enables our students to develop the skills, knowledge & attitudes to make effective choices, specifically related to their decision-making and career planning and includes:

• Raising self-awareness;

• Raising aspirations & achievement;

• Challenging stereotypes;

• Promoting equality of opportunity;

• Developing research skills;

• Understanding options;

• Making effective decisions & managing their transitions as learners & workers.

Meet the team

Principles

The careers education programme operates under the following principles

• Individuality: the most appropriate outcome will differ for each student and there is no one ‘best route’.

• Neutrality: we offer all options to students and give other post-16 providers equal access to our own students.

Objectives

Tavistock College Careers Education Programme has the following aims:

• To contribute to strategies for raising achievement, especially increasing motivation

• To support inclusion, challenging stereotyping and promote equality of opportunity

• To encourage participation in continued learning, including further and higher education

• To encourage employer engagement

• To develop enterprise and employability skills

• To reduce the drop out from course switching in education and training

• To contribute to the economic prosperity of individuals and communities

• To focus students on their future aspirations

• To involve parents/carers as appropriate.

Development

This programme was developed and is reviewed by the Careers Lead and is scrutinised by both the SLT and the local governing body. It is based on current Good Practice Guidelines by the DfE/Ofsted, in particular the 2018 National Careers Strategy and the Gatsby Report.

Implementation of careers education

Careers education is the responsibility of all teachers and tutors at Tavistock College. Careers education is delivered within the Tutor Programme by all Tutors as directed by the Careers Lead at appropriate points throughout the academic year. The structured programme includes focused events such as the Careers Fair, Enterprise Day and various work experience periods.

Students are entitled to CEIAG which meets the professional standards of practice and which is student centred, impartial and confidential. It is integrated into students’ experience of the whole curriculum and is based on a partnership with students and their parents/carers. The programme is expected to raise aspirations, challenge stereotyping and promote equality and diversity.

Careers Education and Guidance is an important component of the 11-19 Curriculum and at Tavistock College, we fully support the statutory requirement for a programme of careers education in Year 7-13.

Partnerships

Alongside the partnership with our students’ parents and carers the following external partnerships are involved in our careers education programme:

• Careers South West works with our targeted students in Year 9-13 and provides our destination data.

• Our College Enterprise Advisor meets regularly with the named Careers Leader to provide support and strategy for our careers programme.

• Careers Enterprise Service works closely with their Careers Enterprise Advisers and the Careers Lead to provide training and support.

• Local HEIs and Colleges provide support in the form of presentations, advice sessions, drop including and Taster days.

• The local Tavistock & District chamber of commerce support the school and provide opportunities for our students within the local community.

Equal opportunities

• All students have an entitlement to CEIAG regardless of race, gender, religion, ability (including SEN and G&T), disability, background & sexual orientation.

• All students have equal access to accurate, current, impartial & independent information, advice & guidance, free from bias and stereotyping.

• Students’ personal needs and aspirations are the most important factor in any activity and will be treated with respect.

• The programme will continue to reflect the changing nature of occupational patterns & trends, based on the latest labour market information.

• All students have access to a range of resources which match individual need.

• The CEIAG programme helps students to understand the importance of equal opportunities in working life.

• The CEIAG programme aims to challenge stereotyping & demonstrates how to deal with prejudice & discrimination of all types.

Provider Access Policy statement

Introduction 

This policy statement sets out the Trust’s arrangements for managing the access of providers to pupils at our secondary academies for the purpose of giving them information about the provider’s education or training offer.
This complies with the Trust’s legal obligations under Section 42B of the Education Act 1997 and reflects current guidance from the Department for Education:
DfE Careers Guidance and Access for Education and Training Providers (Updated October 2018). 

We will adopt the Gatsby Charitable Foundation’s Benchmarks to develop and improve our careers provision. Further information can be read [here]. 

All pupils in Years 8–13 are entitled: 

• To find out about technical education qualifications and apprenticeship opportunities, as part of a careers programme which provides information on the full range of education and training options available at each transition point. 

• To hear from a range of local providers about the opportunities they offer, including technical education and apprenticeships – through options events, assemblies, group discussions and taster events. 

• To understand how to make applications for the full range of academic and technical courses. 

Management of Provider Access Requests 

A provider wishing to request access should contact the relevant careers leader at each individual academy, details of which can be found by following the links above. 

For Tavistock College, please contact the careers lead: 

Barry Palmer
Email: b.palmer@dmatschools.org.uk 

Opportunities for Access 

A number of events, integrated into the Academy’s careers programme, will offer providers an opportunity to come into school to speak to pupils and/or their parents/carers. 

Tavistock College offers a comprehensive Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) programme. An overview can be found in the School’s Careers Policy, available on the school website. 

Please speak to our careers lead, Barry Palmer, to identify the most suitable opportunity for you. 

• The school will provide a suitable space for discussions between providers and students, appropriate to the activity and in line with student timetables. All encounters will be conducted in accordance with the school’s Safeguarding Policy, which can be found on the school website. 

• The school welcomes both live and virtual engagements and will endeavour to make these accessible to students. 

• ICT and other specialist equipment will be made available to support presentations, as discussed and agreed in advance with the careers lead or a member of the team, and in line with the school’s IT Policy. 

• Providers are welcome to leave copies of prospectuses or other relevant course literature with the careers lead. These will be displayed in the Careers Area and at suitable events such as parent evenings. 

 

Encounters Should Include: 

• Basic information about the provider and the approved technical qualifications or apprenticeships offered 

• Information about potential career paths related to those qualifications 

• A summary of the learning and/or training provided 

• Opportunities for students to ask questions and receive answers 

 

Examples of Recent Encounters Between Providers and Students at TCC 

Tavistock College works with several FE and HE providers, including Plymouth City College, Duchy College, University of St Mark and St John, University of Plymouth, and Exeter University.  

FE Providers: 

• Plymouth City College: Supports the increased flexibility programme and diplomas. 

• Duchy College: Supports the increased flexibility programme and diplomas.  

HE Providers: 

• University of St Mark and St John: Partners with Tavistock College. 

• University of Plymouth: Partners with Tavistock College. 

• Exeter University: Partners with Tavistock College. 

What have we done?

• Local FE colleges delivered assemblies to all Year 11 students – Autumn 2024 

• NSSW “Choosing the Right Level 3 Option” workshops – Year 11 – Autumn 2024 

• Mock interviews with local businesses – Year 11 – Autumn 2023 

• DMAT Careers Fair at the Asbury Hotel – Years 9–11 – Spring 2024 

• ASK Apprenticeships and Technical Education Virtual Assembly – Years 10 and 11 – Spring 2025 

Coming Up in Summer 2025: 

• University visits – Year 10 

• Work Experience Week – Year 10 

• Individual guidance meetings with Future Smart – Year 10 

• Technical Education and Training Workshop – Year 8 

Destinations of TCC School Leavers 

The vast majority of our Year 11 leavers go on to attend local post-16 colleges such as Duchy, City College and Callywith College.
An increasing number of learners are now moving on to apprenticeship programmes through local businesses. 

Grounds for Granting and Refusing Access 

All requests are considered on a case-by-case basis. We greatly value the support of providers in enhancing our careers programme.
A key part of our offer includes our annual mock interview day for Year 11 students and the Year 10 work experience programme.

Work experience

Work experience can help many students decide on the right job role in future and gain valuable practical skills that are attractive to prospective employers. However, there are so many more benefits of work experience for students, such as:

• Helping you decide the right career path

• Enabling you to put theory-based learning into practice

• Helping you to build relationships with the right people

• Improving your chances on securing a graduate job

• Improving your self-confidence, maturity and independence

Year 10

Your week long work experience placement(s) are from 29 June - 3 July 2026. This is a calendared event and its an expectation that ALL students compete this. Your tutor has lots of resources including previously used companies in the area. You will need to make initial contact to see if that have availability. Please remember you will be completing with other year 10 students.

Year 12

 Your week long work experience placement(s)  - Monday 7th to Friday 11th July 2026. 

Work experience process

Work Experience Placement Process – Deadline: Friday 14th February 2025

Students must contact potential employers to express their interest in completing a work experience placement. This communication should outline:

• Why they want to undertake the placement
• What they hope to gain from the experience
• How it connects to their future plans

Once a placement is agreed, students should log the details under the Placements section in Unifrog. It is essential that they accurately enter the name and contact details of the person they will be working with.

Unifrog will then generate a risk assessment and contract for completion. Once this is submitted, families will receive a notification of the placement. If they are happy with the details, the form will be returned to the Careers Lead.

The College will then review the submission, with particular attention to the risk assessment, before finalising the placement.

During the placement, students will be expected to complete a diary and reflection questions, all of which will be managed through the Unifrog platform.

Work experience resources

Work experience is a great thing to have on your CV and will work wonders when you are applying for placements or graduate jobs. However, we appreciate it’s currently a bit tricky to find work experience, which means it’s important that you don’t just rely on one job site to look for roles. To help you out, we’ve rounded up some of the best websites to use in your search for part-time jobs, volunteering roles or internships.

StudentJob

StudentJob is a great site to use as part of your job search. You can filter your search down to specific categories like ‘internships’, ‘weekend jobs’, ‘work from home jobs’ and many more to make sure you’re only looking at jobs you’re actually interested in.

If you’re after some inspiration for what you could be doing, you can also browse by the ‘popular student jobs’ category which includes opportunities such as private tutor, brand ambassador, market research and sales assistant. They also have advice sections which include useful posts such as well-being at work and budgeting as a student.

Indeed

Indeed is a great place to look for part-time work. The website has a handy search function where you can use keywords to narrow down what you’re looking for – there’s also an option for you to filter the results by remote or temporarily remote opportunities if you’d feel more comfortable working from home. There are other resources you’ll be able to find on the site too including company reviews and application advice.

CharityJob

If you’re after a job with meaning, then make sure this website is on your list. CharityJob is the UK’s largest and most specialised job board that advertises non-profit, NGO, social enterprise, CIC and voluntary jobs all over the country. As well as their job board, they have a career advice section which is jam-packed with blog posts covering topics like 5 skills you need to land a remote charity job, volunteering during lockdown and staying focused during the job hunt.

If you’re interested in pursuing a career in the charity sector after graduation, you should also check out their careers guides which will help you pinpoint the perfect charity job.

GOV.UK

You can use the GOV.UK website to search for full or part-time jobs in England, Scotland and Wales. You’ll be able to search by ‘what’ (for example job, company, skills) and ‘where’ (for example city, county or postcode). You’ll just need to create an account to apply for any roles that catch your eye.

Employment 4 students (e4s)

Employment 4 students specialises in advertising student jobs, seasonal jobs and internships, as well as graduate roles. You can find work experience opportunities by browsing by featured companies, location or sector. They also have a blog section on the website which is worth a read, with their posts covering topics such as video interview tips, the benefits and challenges of remote internships, increasing your employability after lockdown and much more.

Glassdoor

Millions of people use Glassdoor to search for jobs, salary information, company reviews and interview questions. Their job search function allows you to seek out the roles that you could combine with your studies.

Totaljobs

Totaljobs are the UK’s largest hiring platform – they have hundreds of thousands of live job adverts on their site, so hopefully they might have the right role for you on there. You can browse for role by location, sector, company, popular searches, entry level jobs or part-time jobs.

Work experience: information for providers

Work experience often proves to be a very rewarding and valuable time for students, it helps them become independent and gives young people a feel for what it is like in the world of work. They will be able to develop and show to prospective employers evidence of employability skills, extend their understanding of the world of work and learn from contact with personnel from different employment sectors.

Many students find that references from their work experience placement can be a great help in attempting to secure employment or college applications. Increasingly, employees like to see that prospective candidates have work experience.

Graduate recruiters have said that graduates who have had no previous work experience are unlikely to be successful during the selection process and have less chance of receiving a job offer on a graduate programme.

The school offers a week of work experience to its Year 10 and Year 12 students to take place during the summer term. There is a strong expectation that, wherever possible, every year 10 and 12 student will take part in the scheme. 

We would strongly recommend students where possible seek further work experience including beyond year 10 and 12 during school holidays (these placements however cannot be approved by the school).

THE AIM

To support the ‘whole school’ aim

• To enhance academic motivation (and therefore progression post 16) by showing the relevance of school subjects, attitudes and skills to working life and thereby enhancing academic achievement.

• To promote the development of the ‘whole person’ by providing insight into working life, its nature and disciplines, and the changing labour market.

• To build confidence by enabling young people to experience success in an environment other than that of school.

• To encourage and improve awareness of employability skills and knowledge about career opportunities.

Could you offer work experience placements?

Gaining first-hand experience of a work environment is often the starting point of a career. Work experience provides many benefits, giving students skills and experience that will allow them to stand out to potential employers as well as help them choose the right sector to work in.  A good placement enables young people to find out about jobs they had not previously considered and to learn what employers will expect of them.

If you are able to offer placements to our students in Year 10 and 12, please email b.palmer@dmatschools.org.uk