UCAS -entrance system to be reviewed

The points-based university entrance system is to be reviewed. University applicants now have a wider range of qualifications which are not all recognised at present, admissions service Ucas said.
Under the system, designed 10 years ago, A levels and other qualifications are each given a 'points score'. Universities use these to make offers to students. Ucas said that when the system was introduced, A levels were the main entry qualification for higher education - now around half of applicants from Britain and Northern Ireland to universities apply with other qualifications.
There are also concerns that the tariff system does not show how a particular qualification could be more appropriate for some courses than others.
(Irish News 8th July)

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Careers in Primary School

Today's youngsters would rather be a teacher or a vet than being famous, a poll has suggested.
Despite the influence of hit TV shows like The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent, 'Pop star' came seventh in a survey of children's career ambitions. The survey, commissioned by the Children's Mutual to mark National Childcare Week, asked 1200 parents of five to seven year olds what their child had said they wanted to be when they grow up. The top answer was a teacher followed by a vet.
A footballer was third (world Cup influence possibly). Rounding out the top five were doctor and firefighter. The poll also found differences between genders. While boys dream most of being a footballer, a girl's top ambition is to become a teacher. (Irish News 8th July)

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Top Twenty Future Jobs

If you were to ask a group of Key Stage 3 students what is a 'Body Part Maker'? What would they say?

On the link below you will get 20 possible futuristic jobs for the workforce of 2030. If you think that the jobs that are now around in 2010, never existed in 2004! We need to prepare pupils for the future.

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250,000 to miss Univeristy places this year!

'Many highly-qualified young people with good A-levels will not get a place at university'

So when pupils come back to you at the start of the new year and tell you 'I didn't get accepted, why?'. What is your answer? How do you deal with this in the classroom for next years students?

Any Post 16 or Key Stage 4 programme cannot afford to leave this lesson out of their programme. Young people need to be well informed to make effect decisions such as the one above for the 250,000 students.

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Top Ten CV Mistakes

We are always trying to get pupils to create a good CV - the challenge for us is be be creative in the classroom. Click on the link to see if this video can help you get the message across.

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Free Careers in Sports Posters

Would your School/College/Institution like FREE Careers in Sport posters to promote the diverse career options available to students? The 3 A2-size posters cover Sports Science, Sports Coaching and Sports Management. To order, please email harvey@careers-in-sport.co.uk confirming your institute name, address and the number of copies of each poster you require.

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Earn £50,000 @Tesco, ASDA and Sainsbury's

School leavers can gain 3 A level equivalent's by completing an NVQ level 3 and Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. After successfully completing a 2 year course, recruits are automatically enrolled on the wider Tesco Trainee Management System scheme, to continue their development programme.

Last year at Tesco, 29% of new positions were filled by 16 - 24 year olds. Some of the trainee schemes offered to this age group:

Apprenticeships
Trainee Management Scheme
Retail Foundation Degree
Options Programme
Graduate Recruitment.

SHOPPING AS IT SHOULD BE!

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10 Amazing Apprenticeship Facts

By the end of their career, an apprentice will make £100,000 more than someone without qualifications.

This is just one of the 10 facts that your pupils need to know about apprenticeships. Young people and their parents and other teachers in your school need to be aware of the value of any qualification . Top 10 facts can be found at the following link page 23.

Also on page 23 you will find the top 10 apprenticeship providers.

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Careers and FACEBOOK!

We live in the age of new technology, technology that is changing rapidly. Have you ever used facebook in your Careers lessons? A recent survey has identified that 92% of students have a facebook account, compared to 43% who use Myspace, 38% Twitter, 25% Bebo and 17% use Linkedln.

Amazingly we are always trying to get to know our students and what interests them - how useful would a facebook profile be in trying to engage with our students?

Let us know if you have ever used Facebook or the likes, so we can share with others.

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ETI Survey on STEM CEIAG

As we speak the ETI are carrying our a number of one day survey inspections focusing on STEM CEIAG curriculum within post primary schools.
While we are at an early stage in addressing the STEM agenda in our schools, STEM should nevertheless be a priority for the whole school and not just the Careers Department.

Just some of the areas that the ETI are looking at:

STEM Links in subject areas
Leadership and management of STEM CEIAG
Impact of STEM CEIAG Links with the world of work
Support for developing and delivery of STEM CEIAG
Awareness of STEM CEIAG

If you are unsure as to what or how you need to be addressing STEM in your school, contact one of the team, details at the bottom of the page.

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Classroom Friendly LMI

Employability link has recently gone through a major revamp. Its reconstruction and updating of information now includes a section addressing Labour Market Information, from a local to a regional level.

We feel it is an honest attempt to address the short fall in teachers trying to implement LMI into their Career programmes. Take a look for your self and let us know what you think.

Link

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LMI for Parents

A leaflet has been designed to inform parents, pupils and teachers of the invaluable use of Labour Market information, that young people require in making effective decisions.

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Anyone for Tennis

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), with support from SkillsActive, is spearheading a Coaching Apprenticeship scheme, offering young people the opportunity to develop a successful coaching career in tennis.

The apprenticeships are funded by The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and form part of a wider initiative to keep a greater number of 16-year-olds in training and employment.

The new Coaching Apprentice Scheme offers apprentices aged 16 to 24 the opportunity to learn new skills, earn whilst they learn and most importantly be mentored by the most experienced coaches which will have major long term benefits for tennis.For further details email kirsztina.dilipsky@skillsactive.co.uk

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BigAmbition is a HIT among students?

BigAmbition was launched in November last year to address the dramatic decline in student uptake of IT-related degree courses, despite strong growth in the sector. The campaign was to focus on showing young people what a job in technology is really like, and encourage them to consider education and careers in the industry.

Fronted by an interactive website, the campaign included competitions with the chance to win work experience with companies like Sony and Microsoft.

The results speak for themselves – BigAmbition has had a Big Impact!

- More than 50,000 people have visited the BigAmbition website.
- 81% of students surveyed said that because of BigAmbition, they're more likely to consider an IT degree/career.
- 69% of website registrations are girls.
- 96% say they'd recommend the site to a friend.

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Essential Skills open doors to Higher Education

Essential Skills opens doors to Higher Education
Queen’s University, Belfast and the University of Ulster will now accept Essential Skills qualifications as acceptable alternatives to GCSEs, making higher education accessible to many more learners.

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A career in Medicine

The NHS has produced a free new web resource with information and guidance for young people and students considering a career in medicine. It includes information on the length of training to become a doctor, help on deciding whether medicine is the right choice, and advice on applying to medical school. In addition the site contains several case-studies written by medical students giving the reasons why they chose to study medicine, and is valuable for careers specialists and personal advisers as it contains up-to-date information on medical career pathways. Visit:

Link

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Half a Million Engineers required for 2017?

In a recent report it is forecasted that the Uk economy as a whole will require 587,000 engineering and manufacturing workers with the state of the art skills by 2017.

The transport sector requires engineers, technicians and machine and transport operatives (366,000)
The construction industry will need an additional 389,000 engineering technicians and other workers with skilled trades by 2017 to meet the UK's commercial and housing needs.
An additional 21,000 workers will be needed in electricity, gas and water; mining, quarrying by 2017.
The nuclear industry needs to recruit 1,000 new apprentices and graduates per year until 2025 just to replace the current workforce once they retire. In order to build a new nuclear fleet and add a potential £30bn to the UK economy, many thousands more will be needed.
Sixty percent of the Aerospace and Defence workforce will retire in the next 20 years.

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Vocational Qualifications Can Boost Earnings!

Vocational Qualifications Can Boost Earnings!
A recent report has highlighted that studying vocational qualifications can have the potential to boost your earnings. Vocational qualifications have often been viewed as the poor relation as opposed to the more academic qualification.

It is important to remember that the differences in pay relates to the type and level of vocational qualification studied and more interestingly how it is acquired?

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