Careers
St. Aidan’s Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG)
Our Aims:
The careers programme at St. Aidan’s reflects the whole school development plan and vision and embodies the school values of wisdom, aspiration, learning well together and kindness. It has been designed to deliver progressive, responsive and differentiated careers learning journeys for all and is under-pinned by the relevant, careers-related learning outcomes as set out in Careers guidance and access for education and training providers - GOV.UK (updated May 2025) and the Gatsby Benchmarks for Secondary Schools (updated 2024).
All students follow a structured and sequenced career programme, tailored to meet individual need, to help them develop careers readiness and the key skills needed for their chosen progression transition pathway at post 16 and post 18. We aim to raise aspirations and awareness of the range of options and opportunities available to students to enable them to become effective decision makers and to plan for their future careers by:
- Contributing to strategies for raising achievement, especially by increasing motivation
- Providing emphasis on the relevance of numeracy and literacy as fundamental components of everyday employment in the 21st Century.
- Encouraging students to become reflective learners who are self-aware of their strengths, skills and attributes and how these link to career and life planning
- Supporting inclusion, challenging stereotyping and promoting equality of opportunity
- Encouraging participation in continued learning
- Developing enterprise and employability skills
- Reinforcing the link between and behaviour, attendance and learning skills and careers prospects and future prosperity
The careers programme is embedded as a whole-staff and whole-institution endeavour. We support teaching and subject staff to use careers information in their curriculum delivery to align the development and progression of students with their future aspirations. Staff resources to support the linking curriculum learning to careers can be found here (pdf link).
Our Team:
- Careers Leader: Mrs Richmond
- Careers Adviser: Miss Cassells
- Trainee Careers Adviser: Mrs Atkinson
- SLT Careers Link: Mr Holdsworth
- Careers Link Governor: Mr Bushell
Our Destinations:
The Careers team works closely with both the pastoral team in school and the Local Authority to ensure that all students progress from St. Aidan’s on to a relevant and sustainable destination. We measure and report our leavers’ destinations data each year to the Local Authority in line with their data capture timelines. We evaluate the impact of our provision to support this work and outline the interventions that have been implemented to support our students to progress on to their preferred destination. This information is also shared with our Board of Trustees and Governors.
Post 16 Student Destination Data 2025
The data below is based on information collated by the Careers Department in conjunction with our students, training providers, schools, colleges and employers up to 5th September 2025 and therefore provides a snapshot of activity at a particular point in our students post 16 destinations. Our students can request to receive additional careers related information, advice and guidance beyond the above 5th September destination snapshot should this be required to ensure that all our students will have the best possible chance to progress onto their preferred post 16 pathways.
Should any additional careers information, advice and guidance be required by a former student please contact the careers department by emailing careersstaff@staidans.co.uk
Our Evaluations:
Our progress towards our achievement of all 8 of the Gatsby Benchmarks in full, is formally assessed each term using the Compass evaluation tool as part of our partnership working with the Careers and Enterprise Company through the York and North Yorkshire Careers Hub. The activities that form our Careers Programme are also evaluated for impact throughout the academic year and we regularly seek feedback on our provision from all stakeholders, including parents/carers. Students' knowledge, understanding and progress is measured through their completion at key transition points of the Career and Enterprise Company's, Compass + Future Skills Questionnaire. The results of these evaluations enable us to identify specific areas of strength and areas for further development which then feeds into our annual action plan.
Our next programme review is scheduled for September 2025.
Our Partnerships:
We very much recognise and value the input of parents and carers and are keen to support them in helping students make informed and realistic career decisions and sources of relevant and current careers information can be found here (link). Parents and carers are welcome to attend career appointments or can contact the department at any time to talk to a Careers Adviser. We also attend parents’ evenings and host information events specifically for parents and carers.
We are also committed to providing opportunities for students to access multiple encounters with representatives from industry so that they can develop skills, expand their networks and gain insights into the evolving job market. If you or your organisation can offer a talk on your sector of industry, or offer career enrichment opportunities for our students, please get in touch by emailing careersstaff@staidans.co.uk.
Our Policy Documents:
Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance Policy 2024-2025Provider Access PolicyCareers Programme Overview KS3 & KS4 Careers Programme Overview KS5
We always welcome feedback on our careers provision in school. If you would like to comment, please contact us on 01423 818534 or email careersstaff@staidans.co.uk
