This blog is designed to keep you up-to-date with Careers Education, Information and Guidance (CEIAG) available locally, nationally and through the school. I’ll be posting information about employment and training opportunities available locally as well as details of open days and useful websites. The world of education, employment and training opportunities is changing rapidly so keep checking in for the latest information.

Mr Cross


Wednesday 17 December 2014

Latest local data on Apprenticeships

Youth Connexions has compiled this month's data about Apprenticeships in Hertfordshire.

Vacancies
286 Vacancies (with 254 employers)
  • 2% Traineeships*
  • 80% Intermediate
  • 17% Advanced
  • 1% Higher

[ * Traineeships are an entry pathway to Apprenticeships. Find out more about them here. ]

Wages
Average wage £137 per week.
  • 44% paying over average per week
  • Wage range £82-£451 per week
  • Highest paying £451 (HA Engineering with National Grid in Hitchin)
  • 91% paying above National Minimum Wage
Most popular sectors:
  • Business, administration and law (35% of vacancies)
  • Retail and commercial enterprise (29% of vacancies)

Degree level Apprenticeships introduced

New, degree level Apprenticeships are due to start in England in September 2015 allowing young people to gain a full Honours degree while earning a wage and paying no fees. They will start in digital and software fields with two thirds of course fees covered by the Government while the employers pay trainees’ wages etc. Employers involved include BT, Capgemini, Ford, Fujitsu, GlaxoSmithKline and the John Lewis Partnership. 

Click here to read an article on Degree Level Apprenticeships from the Times Higher Education Supplement and an article comparing Apprenticeship and graduate routes can be found here.

What the politicians are promising

Here are some recent political pledges from members of the Government:
  • Business secretary Vince Cable has mentioned a potential pay rise for 16-17 Apprentices from £2.73 to £3.79 with a report due in February 2015.
  • Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has announced that the Government will revolutionise how 16 to 18 year olds find out about vocational skills and training. “A fully-comprehensive national database of post-16 skills and employer-led courses and opportunities in England, similar to the UCAS system, will be in place at the beginning of the next school year in September 2015.”
  • The Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne gave his annual Autumn Statement to Parliament on 3rd December 2014. To make it cheaper to employ young people, from April 2016, employers will not have to pay National Insurance contributions (NICs) for all but the highest earning apprentices aged under 25.

More on Apprenticeships


  • To raise awareness of the diverse range of Apprenticeships out there, the Daily Telegraph newspaper has launched an Apprenticeship app, giving candidates the opportunity to browse all Apprenticeships available in England. Results can be filtered by location and occupation. The App is available for free on iPhone and Android here.
  • The www.ratemyapprenticeship.co.uk does just what it says.  It has been reviewed by Dan Gendle,  an Employer Development Coordinator at Hertfordshire Youth Connexions, who commented: 'I think this is a useful website for students thinking about Apprenticeships. There is useful information about top employers who offer schemes, but also information from apprentices about how they found the scheme and internships, etc.'
  • A one page Parents' Guide to Apprenticeships has been published by the Government and can be downloaded here.
  • The National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) has produced an "infographic" to explain Higher Apprenticeships. You can view it here.


Changes to the Apprenticeships website

The existing Apprenticeships website, Apprenticeships.org has relocated to a .gov.uk domain. If you visit the .org site, you will automatically be redirected. The change is in line with the Government Digital Strategy. Certain tools currently on the Apprenticeships website will still be available, including: employer online enquiry form, finding a training organisation, the web services request form and the Apprenticeship vacancies live feed. To use the new site go to www.apprenticeships.gov.uk

'Find an Apprenticeship' will be replacing the Apprenticeship vacancies system over the next few months in the transition from .org to .gov.

The cost of an Internship

An analysis of the cost of living in London and Manchester for interns on six month work placements, by the Sutton Trust, concluded that taking an unpaid internship can cost £926 a month in London or £804 in Manchester and that this means that only people with wealthy parents can afford to do unpaid internships. The figures are based on average rental for a room in a shared property, household bills, council tax, food and miscellaneous spending, but excluded transport costs as these are often paid by interns' employers. They say that 31% of graduate interns are unpaid and that, "Internships commonly represent a first step in the ladder towards a professional career in the most competitive sectors, including fashion, journalism, politics, law, finance and the charity sector, and because these areas are so competitive, employers are often able to offer internships as completely unpaid positions." It says that, "These issues make unpaid internships a serious and pressing problem for social mobility."  [ source: GTA ]

Thursday 4 December 2014

Work Experience Information for Students and Parents

Work Experience can be a turning point in a young person's progress towards a careers pathway, if they make informed choices. The PowerPoint slides from the Parent Information Evening on 4th December 2014 can be found here. If you need to download documentation such as forms and letters, visit the Work Experience section of the school website here. If you need further information and guidance, please see the school's Work Experience Co-ordinator, Mrs Rider, in the Admin Office behind Reception.

Thursday 13 November 2014

Higher Apprenticeships

A Higher Apprenticeship incorporates a work-based learning programme and leads to a nationally recognised qualification at Level 4 and above:
  • a Level 4 and 5 is equivalent to a higher education certificate, higher education diploma or a foundation degree 
  • a Level 6 is equivalent to a bachelor degree 
  • a Level 7 is equivalent to a master’s degree
They offer a new work-based route into professions which have traditionally been the preserve of graduates and you enter a Higher Apprenticeship after your have completed your 'A' levels or other Level 3 qualifications.

Over 40 different subjects are currently covered, ranging from commercial airline piloting to legal services, representing hundreds of job roles.  You can see a list of Higher Apprenticeship opportunities here.

Why should you consider a Higher Apprenticeship? Well, a study by ICM Research has revealed that employers in England rate qualified Higher Apprentices as 25 per cent more employable than those who took an alternative route into work.

Wednesday 12 November 2014

Morrisby Profiling 2015

Last year the Vocare company ran the Morrisby Profile test in school for approximately 40 students in Years 10 to 12. They are offering to repeat the process this year. The Profile is a series of tests, lasting approximately three hours, which the Morrisby organisation uses to generate a profile of an individual’s interests, abilities and aptitudes relevant to the world of work. You can try some practice profile questions here.   
If there is sufficient interest, Vocare would run the tests in school on the morning of Monday 20th April 2015, which is the INSET day before the start of Summer Term. If only a few Beaumont students wish to take the test, Vocare may offer them the opportunity to complete the profiling at another local school.  This letter and pamphlet from Vocare provide additional information about the Morrisby Profile.  
If you wish your child to undertake the profiling, please return the slip to me at school as an expression of interest.  No payment is required at this time.  The school has hosted Morrisby Profiling in previous years and students and their parents have valued the outcomes but please note that Vocare is a private company and not part of Beaumont School.  Several organisations offer free, on-line, basic skills profiling tests, some of which can be accessed through this blog.

Monday 3 November 2014

Apprenticeships in Hertfordshire

Current picture for Hertfordshire  -  snapshot 6th October 2014:

Apprenticeship vacancies:
  • 171 Vacancies Apprenticeships
  • 1.5% Traineeships 
  • 75% intermediate 
  • 23% advanced 
  • 0.5% Higher 

Wages:
  • Average wage £136 per week 
  • Almost 43% paying over average per week 
  • Wage range £80‐£451   (Highest paying £451: HA in Engineering with National Grid in Hitchin)
  • Only 10 paying National Minimum Wage – 6% 
  • 94% paying above National Minimum Wage

Most Popular Sectors:

Business, administration and law (40% of vacancies ‐ 67)

Retail and commercial enterprise (27% of vacancies ‐ 46 )

[ Source:  Youth Connexions ]

The benefits of an Apprenticeship

A recent article in the Daily Telegraph has the title:  'Avoid £45,000 student debt  -  and grab a £30,000 wage instead'.  Definitely worth a read.  To do so, click here.

Tuesday 28 October 2014

News for aspiring Journalists

News Academy is looking to inspire the next generation of journalists. It offers fortnightly writing competitions for young people (offering a £100 Amazon voucher as prize) as well as one week intensive Summer Schools for students to learn the tricks of the trade.  They also hold national conferences  -  the next one is 10th February 2015 in London. For more details, click here.

Higher education choices

A survey of 2,300 adults found that, of those who had taken degrees, 31% said they wish they had taken a different subject; for people aged 25-34 it was 42%. Of those who had not been to university, 30% said they regretted not going.  So it pays to consider your options carefully. Websites such as Which University and others with links on the left of this page could be a useful source of impartial advice and guidance ...

Meanwhile, research by Coventry University found that 1 in 7 students value the advice of parents in terms of choosing higher education courses over their own views. The study also found that 35% of parents wanted to influence their children's university choice, while 1 in 8 said they would encourage children to stay at home because they feared they would “miss them too much”. The study flagged up the issue of parents giving advice based on out of date information. One researcher said; “Parental advice, which many parents admit is heavily influenced by their own higher education path, may be ill-informed. The most effective advice parents could offer would be to encourage their children to research potential future careers, including talking to people in those fields of work."

Mock interviews for aspiring Doctors

Medic Mentor is offering an 'Interview Skills Workshop' for young people hoping to apply for medical school. It is taking place in London on 22nd November 2014. It costs £30-45 with the proceeds going to charity. For more information, click here.

Thursday 16 October 2014

Apprenticeships update


The Youth Connexions website has lots of useful information about Apprenticeship opportunities in the local area. For example, it lists Apprenticeship opportunities for school leavers in companies such as Tesco, GlaxoSmithKline; accountancy firms, including KPMG and Deloitte and engineering. These schemes range from sponsored degrees and higher apprenticeships to trainee management programmes and they are suitable for those that have studied A levels or Level 3 qualifications. They can be found here in the jobseekers section of the new Youth Connexions website. Applications are open now for some of these schemes.


A "snapshot" of local Apprenticeships this week:

Apprenticeship vacancies:

• 171 Vacancies Apprenticeships

• 1.5% Traineeships

• 75% intermediate

• 23% advanced

• 0.5% Higher

Wages:

• Average wage £136 per week

• Almost 43% paying over average per week

• Wage range £80 - £451 per week

• Only 10 paying national minimum wage – 6%

• 94% paying above national minimum wage

Most Popular Sectors:

• Business, administration and law (40% of vacancies - 67)

• Retail and commercial enterprise (27% of vacancies - 46 )

Wednesday 15 October 2014

Year 11 and Beyond Evening 14.10.14

The PowerPoint presentation for the Year 11 and Beyond evening, held on 14th October can be downloaded here.

Monday 13 October 2014

Guidance on UCAS Personal Statements


For Year 13 students working on their UCAS Personal Statements there's plenty of good advice available  -  most importantly from the Sixth Form pastoral team  -  but a little more can always help. Click here for some additional guidance from a self-proclaimed expert!

Sunday 12 October 2014

Looking for a career in Law?

AllAboutLaw.co.uk has put together a listing of the top law firms for training contracts and vacation schemes.  It also includes listings of the top law firms and an on-line quiz for you to check to see if Law is the right career for you.

ANOTHER university league table!

This one combines the findings of three widely used ranking systems:  the Times' ‘Good University Guide’, the Guardian guide and the ‘Complete University Guide’.

2015
2014
INSTITUTION

2015
2014
INSTITUTION
1
1
Cambridge

16
15
Birmingham
2
2
Oxford

17
20
Southampton
3
4
St Andrews

18
14
Leicester
4
3
LSE

19
19
Edinburgh
4
6
Imperial

20
23
Nottingham
6
5
Durham

21
17
Bristol
7
8
Bath

21
new
Leeds
8
9
Warwick

23
21
Newcastle
9
10
Exeter

24
27
Kent
9
11
Surrey

25
28
Heriot Watt
9
7
UCL

26
new
Cardiff
12
12
Lancaster

27
23
Sheffield
13
16
Loughborough

28
30
Aston
14
18
East Anglia

29
22
Glasgow
15
13
York

30
25
SOAS

Rise of the "geeks"!


According to The Sunday Times league table of graduate salaries, computer scientists from Oxford earn an average of £43,895 six months after graduating, which is almost four times that of graduates in drama, dance and cinematics from Essex, the lowest earners on £11,963. Computer science graduates from Imperial and Cambridge are also in the top 10. Professor Alan Smithers, of Buckingham University, said, “For parents, computer science has this image that it’s a bit geeky but this is a caricature, computers are the future and computer science courses command a salary premium.” Professor Michael Wooldridge, head of the computer science at Oxford, said his course gave graduates an “uncompromising insistence on mathematical clarity. Ultimately, our students are trained to think clearly, rigorously, and deeply about complex problems.”

The analysis shows the growing earnings gap between the highest and lowest-earning graduates and found that 1:10 had not secured employment six months after graduation and a third were in jobs that did not require a degree. The choice of university was vital, with wide variation in earnings within subjects. For example, graduates in accounting and finance from Huddersfield earned an average of £16,335 while those who studied the subject at Bath earned £29,588. Chemical engineering graduates from Aston earned £24,233 compared to £36,219 for those from Aberdeen.

Student 'Quality of Life' survey

Loughborough came top of a new poll looking at the quality of student life at UK universities, with Bath second, followed by Durham, Newcastle and Glasgow. The second annual survey by Lloyds Bank ranks universities by quality of student life, using existing data taken from recent surveys and research. The rankings take into account course satisfaction, employment and salary on graduation, accommodation costs, university sport facilities, crime in the area and the quality of student social life.

At Loughborough 89% of students are satisfied with their course (the national average was 86%) and 94% of graduates found employment, or continued with their studies. Bath was highest for course satisfaction, 93%, whilst over 94% of graduates found employment, or continued with study. Northumbria University students had the cheapest university accommodation, paying an average £1,550 per academic year, whilst Swansea University students paid the lowest private rentals, with an average annual cost of £2,250. The highest full time salaries were earned by students from the LSE, with a median salary (after 6 months in employment) of £27,388 in 2012. Sheffield University was top for social life, followed by Leeds, Newcastle, Durham, Manchester, Dundee and Swansea.

Times Ed world university rankings 2014-15

The Times Education Supplement has published its assessment of the world's university rankings for 2014-15.  Full details and analysis can be found here.

UNIVERSITY
14/15
13/14
California Institute of Technology
1
1
Harvard
2
2
Oxford
3
2
Stanford
4
4
Cambridge
5
7
MIT
6
5
Princeton
7
6
Berkeley
8
8
Imperial College
9
10
Yale
9
11
Other UK university placings

UNIVERSITY
14/15
13/14

UCL
22
21

LSE
34
32

Edinburgh
36
39

Kings College
40
38

Manchester
52
58

Bristol
74
79

Durham
83
80

Glasgow
94
117