Careers
We are happy to announce that George Salter Academy has been externally assessed by Complete Careers LLP in March 2023 and awarded the national Quality in Careers Standard for its careers education, information, advice and guidance provision.
The main purpose of Careers Programme is to provide students with the opportunity to engage in a range of activities that will contribute to their knowledge and understanding of the world of work and the qualification pathways suitable for students’ individual needs. The Academy is committed to not just fulfilling its statutory requirements in this area but providing students with exceptional support and guidance throughout their time at George Salter Academy.
The information on this page is reviewed annually. The next scheduled review is 23rd October 2025.
If you have any feedback, please get in touch via the contact page on this website or call the main school number and ask to speak to our careers department.
If you have any questions please email our Careers Advisor at: [email protected].
A welcome from our GSA Enterprise Advisor:
Careers and Work Experience Co-ordinator: Mrs Nicola Dickinson
Email: [email protected]
Careers Advisor: Chantel Johnson
The Careers Advisor can be contacted on 0121 553 4665 ext 5245
Email: [email protected]
The Careers Advisor is available in the careers office in the Post 16 corridor during break and lunch times.
During September to December each year students in Year 11 will be offered an opportunity to speak to Miss Johnson about making plans for their career after they leave school. Miss Johnson is a Level 6 qualified Careers Advisor and will offer confidential, impartial and independent information, advice and guidance to all students.
Students will leave their interview with an action plan and are encouraged to share this with parents and carers. If you want more support or advice, please contact Miss Johnson on: 0121 553 4665
A small number of students will be offered an appointment with Alison Danks from Connexions. You can contact her via the email address: [email protected]
Careers Lead: Mrs Nicky Payton – Tel: 0121 553 4665
Email: [email protected]
Governor for careers: Miss Chantel Brooks
Email: [email protected]
Connexions PA: Alison Danks [email protected]
- Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) from Years 7-13. This is mainly through one to one appointments, whole group guidance during PSHE days and information evenings. Students can discuss anything related to careers and information is also given about finances and the implication of this on them i.e. student loans. It also touches on their emotional wellbeing and how they cope with pressures at school and home.
- An individualised action plan is used to track student progress. This is also shared with parents.
- As part of Personal Social Health Education (PSHE) days students have a spiral of CEIAG opportunities which include employer encounters, information on further and higher education, apprenticeships, employability skills, how to complete applications and how best to present at interview. These tools equip students to make well informed choices about their future options.
- We try to maximise our links with parents and guardians through Parents Evenings or one to one appointments. We also offer access to UniFrog Software on our Website so that parents can use this with their child at home and explore careers, courses and Labour Market Information (LMI). Through this, parents and students can contact the Careers Advisor to make appointments or ask questions.
- Ensuring they get the best possible Work Experience as part of their Year 10 experience. Our Careers Advisor has created strong links with a wide range of local employers ranging from retail to construction. Students who cannot organise their own work placements are supported with applications to these local contacts. All students are visited during the course of the placement and log books are checked to ensure they have adhered to the expected standards.
- Work placement support is also provided for Post 16 students studying Health and Social Care and Childcare.
- Providing individualised Advice and Guidance for all Year 11 and 13 students.
- A Careers Hub in the library so that students have a central place to meet the Careers Advisor and have access to careers resources.
- Small group support for SEND/ LDD and vulnerable students in accessing appropriate career pathways.
The school measures and assesses the impact of the careers program through its NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) figures.
Careers Provision and audit of providers at GSA
Other careers related activities
Careers in the curriculum – Speakers & employers related to subjects booked by subject teachers
Taster events – University taster events – Promoted for individual students to attend
Post 16 virtual work experience – Promoted for individuals to attend if of interest (Crown Prosecution Service/ Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals)
Black Country Chambers of Commerce– The Young Chamber Committee consists of seven secondary schools with student body representatives that voice the issues and opinions of their whole school body.
The Committee was set up to be a link between schools and businesses, a platform for both parties to interact on mutual ground.
Our Young Chamber supports the development and growth of young people and will enable us to support the creation of future leaders.
The mission of Connexions Sandwell is to positively engage Sandwell young people and provide them with high quality independent careers advice and guidance which enables them to take up work, an apprenticeship or a further learning opportunity in order to fulfil their potential. Through multi-agency working, Connexions provides high-quality, impartial, information, advice and guidance (including careers advice and guidance), together with access to personal-development opportunities to help remove barriers to learning and progression and ensure young people make a smooth transition to adulthood and working life.
The school measures and assesses the impact of the careers program through its NEETs (Not in Education, Employment or Training) figures.
LMI for all – www.lmiforall.org.uk
Sandwell Trends – https://www.sandwelltrends.info/
Office for National Statistics – www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket
The Black Country Economic Intelligence Hub
Living wage employers – www.livingwage.org.uk/accredited-living-wage-employers
Click here to download ‘Helping Your Child Begin Their Career Journey’
Target Careers for Teachers & Parents
Unifrog the complete destinations platform. Unifrog brings all the available information into one single, impartial, user friendly platform that will help students to make the best choices and submit the strongest applications.
Icould is a small, dynamic charity, providing career inspiration and information for young people. We show what is possible in work and offer different ways to think about careers through free access to over 1000 personal video stories, detailed job information, plus practical tips, insight and advice.
Since the launch in 2009, they have developed a reputation for quality content and strong partnership working. icould is funded by a combination of philanthropy, sponsorship, and grants from trusts and foundations, and receives further support through a range of in-kind services.
Future Finder features 430 different jobs and draws on a variety of labour market data feeds from credible sources such as UCAS, UKCES and the Russell Group.
Designed for teenagers, Future Finder connects today’s A Level choices with tomorrow’s careers.
It shows which jobs are growing and which A Level choices can earn the most money. It helps to understand how what is learned in the classroom is relevant to the outside world.
The National Careers Service provides information, advice and guidance across England to help make decisions on learning, training and work. We’ve got over 800 job profiles describing what each job entails. The service offers confidential and impartial advice and is supported by qualified careers advisers.
Registration is free and only takes a few minutes. You’ll need to be aged 13 or over to open an account.
Lifeskills created with Barclays, has one single-minded ambition – to inspire young people to get the skills they need for a better future. And that’s what they do. Not just online, but in class and through valuable real-world experiences.
“Three quarters of young people who engage with LifeSkills feel more confident to make decisions about their future while 69% feel motivated to do better at school.” Kirstie Mackey, LifeSkills Team. (Online survey conducted by The Work Foundation, 2015)
The Russell Group is relaunching its guide for Year 10 and 11 pupils on subject choice to study at sixth form or college and how it relates to their future study and careers.
| Gatsby Benchmark | # | GSA Careers Activities |
| A stable careers programme | 1 | PSHE/Curriculum/One to one CEIAG |
| Learning from labour market information | 2 | Assemblies/Website/PHSE |
| Addressing the needs of each pupil | 3 | One to one CEIAG meetings/Connexions |
| Linking curriculum learning to careers | 4 | Curriculum and careers/STEM |
| Encounters with employers and employees | 5 | Employer talks/Assemblies |
| Experiences of workplaces | 6 | Work experience/Work place visits |
| Encounters with further and higher Education | 7 | Assemblies/Careers fairs/FE visits |
| Personal guidance | 8 | One to one CEIAG meetings/Connexions |
GSA Access Policy
Introduced as an amendment to the Technical and Further Education Act 2017, the policy stipulates that schools must allow colleges and training providers access to every student in years 8-13 to discuss non-academic routes that are available to them (See Appendix A). It is expected that by doing so this will help address the UK’s productivity challenges and address skills shortages experienced across several sectors of the economy. This regulation has been enforced since January 2nd 2018.
Every school must ensure that there is an opportunity for a range of education and training providers to access all pupils in year 8 to year 13 for the purpose of informing them about approved technical education qualifications or apprenticeships.
Every school must publish a policy statement setting out their arrangements for provider access and ensure that it is followed.
Schools must also publish a policy statement detailing the ways in which colleges and training providers will be granted access
What do we do GSA?
- We have a Provider Access Policy (PAP) that complies and is in the policy section of the website.
- We liaise effectively with our Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) Co-ordinator and the Enterprise Adviser
- Staff and students are trained in the use of Unifrog
- There is a full programme of IAG for students in Yr9 when choosing Options
- The Year 10 work experience package includes 1:1 interviews with independent employers
- The Year 11 Options assembly investigates all options available for our students, the Careers Fayre for Year 11 and on an optional basis Year 9.
- Apprenticeship providers such as Juniper, Nova, SCL , ASK are invited to the fayre and our Year 11 and 13 Results days.
In Year 12 we offer apprenticeship awareness talks led by employers
We review our CEIAG work through student voice, analysis of leavers’ destinations and reporting annually to governors and Trust partners. Our next review is planned for the Autumn term 2022.
Click on the links below for information regarding Year 11 leavers’ destination data.’
GSA Year 11 2021 Leavers Activity Survey Analysis Report
Apprenticeships Guidance
Need help finding an Apprenticeship? Click here.