Advent Term Careers Events Success

This Advent Term is the busiest in terms of careers events. These are designed as interactive sessions timed to take place ahead of important decisions in the educational and academic journey of pupils. Across the Fifth and Sixth Forms, nearly 400 pupils have had multiple opportunities to progress and develop their thinking about post-Lancing options. The impact of the programme can be seen from the feedback from the 174 responses received in the various event surveys. Data indicates that students are becoming more assured in their choices as they progress through the programme with 31% knowing exactly their chosen path by the Upper Sixth compared to 17% in the Fifth Form.

Careers Fair

The Annual Careers Fair took place in November and is an important event in the My Future programme for the Fifth Form. Earlier in the Term, all Fifth Form and new Lower Sixth pupils undertook their Morrisby assessments. This software application identifies a student’s strengths and builds a comprehensive personal profile, raising self-awareness. Students always enjoy reading their reports; sometimes the feedback reinforces ideas or gives them new avenues to research. 

In the week before the Careers Fair pupils receive one-to-one coaching from an expert Careers Advisor. The intention is that this, together with conversations had with families and Tutors, enables each pupil to identify which four career workshops to attend. At the Careers Fair this year, sessions covered a wide range of possible careers from Teaching to Engineering, Law, Real Estate, the Civil Service and Finance. Workshops explored the range of different career opportunities in each sector, the skills and academic requirements employers would look for, whether specific A Levels would be necessary, as well as ideas for students on how to make themselves stand out.

Feedback from students helps to continually refine and improve the Fair. This year students told us they learnt:

• About the relevance of Maths and Physics in architecture
• About the charity sector and what it means to work in, and for, a non-profit
• About the many types of doctors working in hospitals
• That marketing is involved in a huge variety careers
• About the different career paths in Law
• More about the future of finance and what employers want to see from applicants
• About job mobility and how different beginnings may be equally effective in achieving a high position in a competitive field
• That working in Science allows you to branch out into many other career options
• That you don’t always need a degree in Engineering to work in that field

Careers in Depth 

Our annual Careers in Depth event is held for all students in the Sixth Form and is intended to assist pupils in understanding the breadth and depth of a series of different careers.

This year the event focused on Arts and Media, Medicine and Health, Business and Management, Engineering, Finance and Law with each panel made up of experts and practitioners from across the sector. In each session, panellists introduced themselves and included information about their career path from school, degree studied and the relevance of additional qualifications. Facilitated by our staff hosts, conversation then moved on to cover the typical day, purpose of the role, other interactions across the organisation and future developments in the sector which pupils should be prepared for. At this stage we know that around 75% of students have a good sense of what they want to do with their career and, for many this event is about refining these ideas. Those remaining are still looking at their options more widely.