Head of Careers and Higher Education

Specific responsibilities include: 

 Leadership  

• to advise senior leadership on policy, strategy, and resources for our careers and higher education provision (including showing how they meet the Gatsby benchmarks)  

• to report on the careers and higher education provision and outcomes to the Academic Strategy Group and Board of Governors three times per year  

• to review and evaluate our current careers and higher education programme 

• to prepare and implement a careers and higher education programme development plan  

• to lead the UCAS Programme for Sixth Form and former students, from the application stage to offers and the training of all staff involved in the UCAS process (e.g.UCAS reference writing) 

• to lead the quality assurance process in line with the regulatory requirement relating to careers and work-related learning 

 Management  

• to plan and deliver high quality careers education  

• to train and support teachers in the delivery of careers education lessons which form part of the Personal Development programmes  

• to monitor teaching and learning in careers education lessons  

• to support Form Tutors and Directors of Studies, providing information and advice  

• to monitor access to, and engagement with, careers guidance  

• to ensure apprenticeship providers and employers have access to the school to share opportunities with all pupils (e.g., through the organisation of the Careers events and a rolling programme of careers talks)  

• to manage the careers budget  

• to support and guidie all students in their future career plans,  

• to develop and maintain a system for collecting and recording accurate destination data for each student after they leave school; 

• to analyse and report on destination data of our students and develop appropriate action plans  

 Co-ordination  

• to manage the provision of careers information for students, parents and staff effectively. This will include attending open events and relevant parents evenings  as well as organising and presenting at assemblies and careers and higher education events at the school 

• to liaise with the Heads of Personal Development and other staff, to plan effective careers education and careers events  

• to liaise with Form Tutors, Directors of Studies, Progression Coordinators and Senior leaders to identify students needing guidance and the best way of meeting these needs 

• to build the awareness and understanding of Heads of Department of the university sector and offerings in the Higher Education sector more generally  

• to organise and provide individual careers guidance for students and refer students to outside careers advisors where appropriate  

• to co-ordinate careers assessments 

• to provide individual careers and higher education advice to students  

• to co-ordinate work experience and the opportunities to meet employers 

• to communicate effectively about our careers and higher education futures programme 

• to manage our work experience provision, including reviewing and developing it this provision 

 Networking  

• to monitor and analyse trends in higher education and employment and develop appropriate plans for the school to ensure students are ready for their next stage of their career and education 

• to establish and develop links with apprenticeship providers and universities both within the UK and overseas  

• to establish and develop links with employers and industries  

• to manage links and ,where appropriate, commission careers guidance services 

• to manage links with other relevant external organisations  

• to develop links with alumni and develop an alumni mentoring programme 

• to liaise with Heads of Department throughout the school to develop ways to embed career-relevant learning in their departments’ teaching and to ensure that all teachers in their departments are confident at talking about careers related to their subject and understand the relevant entry pathways, as well as the skills in demand from employers; 

• to work closely with the Heads of Personal Development to provide training, resources and direct input into their programmes 

• to innovate in the area of developing students’ employability skills, including leadership, communication, resilience and self-management;