Careers Education and Guidance

Careers Education and Guidance is delivered to all students in Year 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and Sixth Form. The programmes for delivery to Years 7, 8, 9, 10 & 11 are separately organised from the Year 12 & 13 programmes, where the responsibility for their management rests with the Sixth Form Leadership Team and Student Advisers.

Please click here to for Sixth Form Progression.

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. The programme 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).

Students in Years 7-11 participate in a range of careers activities during their time at school and this includes Big Picture personal development lessons which are delivered by Form Tutors along with inputs from the Careers Leader/Personal Development Coordinator, independent Careers Advisers, Year Managers, careers themed assemblies, careers themed Big Picture events and presentations by external visitors such as education providers, employers, HGS alumni and guest speakers.

 

The objectives of our careers programme are to:

• Provide comprehensive information and advice
• Raise aspirations and awareness of the links between attendance and developing skills at school to support careers prospects and future prosperity
• Encourage students to become reflective learners who are self-aware of their strengths, skills and attributes and how these link to career and life planning 
• Respond to the needs of each learner to ensure that all students have the knowledge and understanding required in order to choose between learning options when planning for their future
• Actively promote equality of opportunity, challenge stereotypes and support inclusion

 

The programme for Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 serves to enable young people to make informed decisions about their options and ultimately their futures. In order to do this the following objectives are set out and the depth of study increases as students progress throughout the school

• Understand themselves and the influences on them
• Investigate opportunities in learning and work
• Make and adjust plans to manage change and transition

In addition, the programme for Years 10 & 11 becomes more specific as the school aims to support students through the transition of post 16 careers and in doing so the following objectives are set out

• Raising students’ self awareness
• Identifying strengths and weaknesses
• Increasing occupational opportunities awareness
• Developing planning skills
• Facilitating work experience. preparing for 16+ options
• Investigating 16+ study skills & promoting the notion of lifelong learning

 

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. 

Evaluation, Monitoring and Review

The careers programme at HGS is constantly evolving and improving as we look closely at the needs of our students and how we can best meet them. The careers department development plan and policy is reviewed and evaluated annually and destination data enables us to monitor the progression of our students and the impact of the CEIAG provision. Ongoing feedback and evaluations will also be gathered during the year as we recognise the important role that students and parents have in shaping a child’s career development and the responsibility we have as a school to provide an aspirational, supportive and effective careers programme for all.

We also assess our progress each term towards achieving all 8 of the Gatsby Benchmarks in full 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. 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 each year which then feeds into our development plan to ensure we continue to provide the best careers programme possible and that we continue to meet the criteria of the nationally recognised Quality in Careers Standard Award which we are very proud to have held as a school since 2017. 

The following documents provide further information about the Careers Education and Guidance programme at HGS:

Personal Development - The Big Picture

Careers Education at HGS information leaflet

Careers Entitlement Statement