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Home > Parents & Carers > Careers and Employability

#BeMoreBHASVIC Careers and Employability

BHASVIC students receive support with their progression and career planning via the tutorial programme and events such as our Futures Fair, Progression Week, Skills Week and Careers Enrichment Day. They can access information and self-help resources from the Careers Advice and Work Experience section on the Sharepoint pages. Students can book a personalised guidance appointment with our fully-qualified and experienced careers advisers by coming to the Student Services Centre and arranging a time with one of the reception team.        

We know that for many students, parents and carers are the first people they turn to when considering their plans for the future. Therefore, our aim is to provide you with information and resources to help you guide and support them. If you have any questions relating to this content, please email careers@bhasvic.ac.uk.

The most up-to date opportunities, including job opportunities, virtual workshops and work experience, webinars and apprenticeship news are available to students on Sharepoint. This information is available to parents and carers via the links below.

Please see the links below for list of opportunities, event and resources including information for parents and carers:

WEBSITES AND FURTHER INFORMATION WHICH MAY BE ESPECIALLY HELPFUL TO PARENTS AND CARERS 

  • BHASVIC Skills Week - 7-11 July 2025 - Scroll down this page to view updates and details in the Skills Week Section.
  • Download these free resources The Parents Guide 2024-25 to:
  • National Careers Week Virtual Careers Fair - find out more about a different empoyer each day with resources and careers quiz included 
  • National Careers Week 2025 - Parents Guide. This is an excellent opportunity for parents to find out more about the different ways their teen can get on track for rewarding work pathways.
  • Parent's Guide to Green Careers which can be downloaded for free. Also featured, is a Parents Guide to What's Next which is free to download.
  • External support provided by the universities of Sussex and Brighton for students making UCAS applications. This includes tutor group talks, workshops and 1:1 personal statement support. Students should book their places via the Careers and Work Experience page on Sharepoint.

Apprenticeships 

 

**PLEASE SCROLL DOWN TO SEE FURTHER INFORMATION & RESOURCES ON CAREERS AND EMPLOYABILITY AT BHASVIC**

Alison Cousens

Assistant Principal (Director of Student Services) & Careers Lead

James Barton

Head of Student Experience, Careers Leader (Operational)

Adele Fox

Careers Adviser & Personal Tutor

Sam Davey

Careers Adviser

Alice Fisher

Careers Adviser & Personal Tutor

Corin D’Enno

Personal Tutor, Teacher of ALS & Employability Enterprise Coordinator

Nathalie Stephenson

Vice President, HR Strategic Partner at American Express

Jo Redfern

Governor. Committee Membership - Quality & Curriculum. BHASVIC - BHASVIC Careers Link Governor

All Careers and Employability Information, Advice and Guidance at BHASVIC falls under our “Futures Framework” strategy.  This has been reviewed and updated during 2022.

BHASVIC FUTURES FRAMEWORK

OUR STABLE CAREERS PROGRAMME

CAREERS & EMPLOYABILITY PROGRAMME 

The BHASVIC learner journey and the BHASVIC Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) Calendar
BHASVIC Events*     Other events **      Tutorial activities/themes ***     Meeting the needs of individuals and groups****
Stage Learner journey Careers and alumni team involvement
Pre-enrolment
  • Year 10 Taster Day*
  • Open Evenings*
  • Schools Liaison visits*
  • Interviews****
  • Moving On Day*
  • New Parents Evenings*
  • Providing information in advance and available to answer questions from students and parents/carers at college events
  • Maintaining and updating the careers information on BHASVIC website - accessible externally
  • Careers and alumni team present and available at Open Evenings
Year 1  

Ongoing work (throughout year 1)

  • advice to early leavers
  • one to one careers appointments by request
  • maintaining careers information on website/padlet noticeboard etc
  • advice, guidance and support for teaching departments
  • developing employer contacts
  • providing LMI for tutorials
  • Careers Education on range of options delivered through tutorial
  • Connect Work Experience App and Skills Week planning
  • Widening Participation (WP) newsletters sent at least once per term
  • Supporting targeted cohorts eg students with EHCP, ESOL students, Flourish students, WP students

August/

September
  • Enrolment days*
  • Induction/Identity tutorials***
  • Course change window*
  • Freshers and Enrichment Fair*
  • Careers appointments and advice for new students (including those who don’t meet our entry criteria) and A1 students around course choices and impact of changes to support with helpdesk queries
  • Intended careers/destinations survey during term 1
  • Identify WP Cohort from student survey data
  • Widening Participation criteria are part of the BHASVIC new student survey.
  • Careers and alumni team present and available at Freshers and Enrichment Fair

October/

November/

December
  • Wellbeing ***
  • Meet the tutor evenings****
  • Progress Review#1****
  • Open Evenings*
  • Launch WP programme to BHASVIC cohort
  • Careers and alumni team present and available at Open Evenings

January/

February/

March
  • My Future Plans***
  • A1-A2 transfer***
  • BHASVIC Futures Fair*
  • A1 Parents and Carers’ consultation evenings*
  • National Apprenticeships Week**
  • National Careers Week**
  • BTEC Introductory Careers/ Work Experience sessions*
  • Higher Education Information Evening*
  • Interviewing applicants*
  • BHASVIC Futures Fair led by Careers team supported by Events Team
  • National Apprenticeships Week and National Careers Week promoted via tutorials and on various channels
  • Careers team visits to BTEC classes
  • CEIAG-focused tutorials, including labour market information
  • Careers and alumni team provide input to specialist applications evenings
  • Careers team provide guidance and support for interviewers as required

April/May/

June/July
  • Progression Week*
  • Summer Progression guidance****
  • Progression exams*
  • Specialist Application Evening*
  • All A1 students move into differentiated tutor groups depending on intended destinations***
  • Drafting of student references by teachers and tutors***
  • Skills Week including Work Experience, volunteering, social action and Careers Enrichment Day*
  • CEIAG-focused tutorials around progression
  • Careers Team input into Specialist Application Evenings and Progression week
  • Careers team provide 1 to 1 appointments for summer progression exam results
  • Careers team provide direct input to Employability and Enterprise tutorials
  • Careers, Events, Centre Ops and alumni team involved in planning and delivery of skills week, including support for work experience and Careers Enrichment Day
August
  • BTEC results day****
  • GCSE results day****
  • Careers team available on results days to provide CEIAG to individual students
Year 2  

Ongoing work (throughout year 2)

  • Careers advice to early leavers
  • one to one careers appointments by request
  • maintaining careers information on website/padlet etc 
  • advice, guidance and support for teaching departments
  • developing employer contacts
  • Careers Education on range of options delivered through tutorial
  • Supporting targeted cohorts eg students with EHCP, ESOL students, Flourish students, WP students

September/

October/ November/

December
  • Recovery and Portfolio Courses begin****
  • differentiated programmes for A2 tutorials***
  • Early applications to UCAS (Oxbridge/Medics)****
  • UCAS applications****
  • Support for WP students****
  • Life skills tutorials***
  • Careers appointments available for A2 students around course choices and impact of changes, decisions to leave college
  • Coordination of one-to-one personal statement advice for WP students (delivered by IntoUniversity, Sussex, Brighton and Portsmouth Universities) 
  • Input into life skills tutorials, including soft skills/employability
  • Careers Team visit Enterprise and Employability groups to discuss work experience and careers resources

January/

February/

March
  • Futures Fair*
  • Independent Living tutorials***
  • Professionalism tutorials***
  • National Apprenticeship Week**
  • Progress Review#4****
  • National Careers Week**
  • BHASVIC Futures Fair led by Careers team supported by Events Team
  • National Apprenticeships Week & National Careers Week promoted via tutorials and on various channels
  • Input into tutorials, including budgeting, banking and borrowing, accommodation and living independently, labour market information, professional CVs

April/May/

June
  • Moving On tutorials***
  • A2 cross-college surveys and intended destination surveys****
  • Leavers’ Event*
  • Final exams/assessments**
  • Alumni team promote sign up through tutorial and Leavers Event
  • Surveys include CEIAG- related questions
July/August
  • Results Days**
  • Post-results Help Desk****
  • Careers Team available at New Parents’ Information Evenings
  • Careers team available on results days to provide CEIAG to individual students
After leaving BHASVIC
  • Final Destinations follow-up****
  • Alumni Network promoted****
  • Information for ex-students on BHASVIC website****
  • Careers team available to former students to provide CEIAG
  • Alumni network offers mentoring and buddying opportunities
  • Careers and alumni team maintain up to date CEIAG on BHASVIC website

 

Road map


CEIAG: Futures Framework
Meeting the Gatsby Benchmarks

Gatsby Measures – for more info, please refer to p7-9 of Careers Guidance for FE & Sixth Form Colleges (October 2018)
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/679639/Careers-Guidance.pdf

BHASVIC is working towards meeting all the Gatsby benchmarks. In addition to general cross-college activities listed below, curriculum departments offer specific activities which are listed in their annual self-assessment report.

1) A stable careers programme – an embedded programme of careers education and guidance that is known and understood by students, teachers/tutors, governors and employers

  • Our stable careers programme is outline in the table above


2) Learning from career and labour market information - Every student should have access to good quality information about future study options and labour market opportunities. They will need the support of an informed adviser to make best use of available information

  • Labour Market Information (LMI) is utilised in tutorials 
  • Communications via Student Bulletin / Student Services social media / VLE / website
  • Students have access to our Careers team
  • LMI is shared with curriculum teams


3) Addressing the needs of each student - Students have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to the needs of each individual. A college’s career programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout

  • Our tutorial programme includes time for 1:1 support
  • Our WP programme has a range of activities for students from groups which are "under-represented in Higher Education" 
  • We work closely to provide careers support for particular target groups such as students with EHCPs and ESOL students
  • We have a differentiated A2 tutorial programme which reflects different progression options (Employability and Enterprise, Oxbridge, Medics, Visual Arts, UCAS)


4) Linking curriculum and learning to careers. All teachers/tutors should link curriculum learning with careers. STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of career paths

  • Curriculum teams include careers, employability and skills in their annual strategic reviews and action plans
  • The careers team have named employability links in each department
  • Careers Enrichment Day (part of Skills Week) is led by curriculum teams to promote careers related to their subject areas


5) Encounters with employers and employees. Every student should have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace. This can be through a range of enrichment activities including visiting speakers, mentoring and enterprise schemes (Two meaningful encounters per year: one linked to curriculum)

We organise a range of activities which introduce students to employers and employees including:

  • Futures Fair (January)
  • Tutorial activities linked to National Careers Week (March)
  • Skills Week and Careers Enrichment Day (July)
  • Green Careers event (new for 2023)
  • Alumni mentoring (new for 2023)


6) Experience of workplaces. Every student should have first-hand experience of the workplace through work visits, work shadowing and /or work experience to help their exploration of career opportunities and expand their networks (after two years, at least one experience of workplace)

We organise a range of activities which introduce students to the workplace including:

Skills Week and Careers Enrichment Day (July)

    • Green Careers event (new for 2023)
  • Work experience for students involved in our medical careers enrcihment programme


7) Encounters with further and higher education. All students should understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. This includes both academic and vocational routes and learning in schools, colleges, universities and in the workplace

  • Tutorial Programme: My Future Plans / Oxbridge / Medical Careers / EE / Visual Arts / UCAS
  • Widening Participation Programme
  • Futures Fair (January)
  • Progression Day (June)


8) Personal guidance. Every student should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a careers adviser, who could be internal or external, provided that they are trained to an appropriate level. These should be available whenever significant study or career choices are being made (every student has one careers interview by 18 in addition to one by 16)

  • Careers team
  • Guidance team

BHASVIC A1 Skills Week runs from 7-11 July 2025 for all first years. It's never too early to start the preparation for a work experience or volunteering placement.

BHASVIC Skills Week is for all first years, focusing on developing essential employability skills and awareness of career opportunities. Students will be expected to source their own work experience placements. Conversations can start happening now with family, friends, neighbours and work colleagues to see if they would be willing to host a BHASVIC student in the workplace or run a short work experience project remotely that week. Please email wex@bhasvic.ac.uk if you are an employer who is interested in getting involved or take a look at our Employers (bhasvic.ac.uk) webpage.

Full details and information will be shared with students in tutorial during the year.  For further Skills Week information will be published in our fortnightly parent communications.

 

Employability & Enterprise at BHASVIC - Please click on the link here to see how subjects combine with career opportunities.

Information for employers and other careers advisers: If you are an employer who is able to offer work experience or is interested in contributing in other ways to our Careers and Employability Programme, please contact careers@bhasvic.ac.uk. Please also use this email address if you are a careers adviser from another organisation and would like further information; or would like to be represented at our annual Futures Fair careers event usually held in January.

Please see: Application for Provider Access 2023 Document

Further details about how and when to get involved can be found here

 

Below is a list of careers resources that students and parents/carers may find useful.