Careers and Higher Education

Helping our pupils to fulfil their potential and providing quality careers education and guidance at The Leys is interwoven into our PSHE programme. Starting in Year 7, we deliver a focused and impartial careers curriculum across the senior school. From Year 9 to Upper Sixth, as pupils begin to start thinking about their future beyond school, our programme encompasses the Gatsby Benchmarks, a best practice guide for Good Careers Guidance. Our careers provision promotes emotional and cultural intelligence, encourages resilience, and nurtures the key employability skills that are so important to supporting their aspirations in both learning and employment.

Building young people’s knowledge to assist them to make confident choices for their future is a key focus of our careers programme. Throughout their time at The Leys, pupils will have access to the Unifrog platform which provides psychometric testing, extensive careers and subject libraries, and helps them to independently gather specific information about potential pathways. Curriculum learning is linked to careers and we encourage pupils to investigate a broad range of opportunities and career options to help them make informed choices appropriate to their personalities, interests and aptitudes.

Our Careers and Higher Education programme includes a range of enrichment activities and events throughout the year and includes industry-specific skills workshops, networking opportunities, renowned key note speakers and an annual Careers Forum each spring. We organise informative careers talks, delivered by a host of inspiring guest speakers from a wide range of industries. We also work closely with our Development Office to utilise our Old Leysian network who participate in our speaker series and offer careers advice and work experience opportunities, helping to facilitate strong links between our pupils, old and current. Alumni talks provide valuable insights from former pupils who are leaders in their field and provide pupils with the opportunity to connect with our most successful and inspiring alumni.

Careers provision at The Leys is designed to help prepare our pupils successfully for the next stages in their education and working careers. When choosing A Level subjects in Year 11, pupils are supported by their tutors, subject teachers, the Head of Careers and the Director of Studies to identify the most useful A Level subject combinations for their preferred degree options or a known career path. All pupils are supported to make a realistic appraisal of their ability in different subjects, their skills and their areas of strength. Our open evenings and taster lessons are designed to support more informed option choices, to understand what is involved in each A Level subject, and how it might differ from GCSE in terms of both content and in the way it is taught. We pride ourselves on our ability to help guide students to a functional balance that will open the right doors for them at university and beyond.

During Year 11 and Sixth Form, higher education support and talks are organised, internal sessions and external presentations from UK and international universities and organisations to help inform them about the process of choosing and applying for university, apprenticeships, gap years or employment. Lower Sixth pupils are widely encouraged to attend virtual tours and Open Days at universities of interest. As a school based in the heart of Cambridge, we also have close links with the University here. Our tutorial system at The Leys enables support to be provided with personalised guidance, mock interview practice and one to one tutor support and expertise with UCAS and international applications (including the USA, Canada, Europe and Asia). In addition, we offer specialist support for Oxbridge candidates and those applying for Medicine, Veterinary Science and Dentistry. Leysians go onto many universities including many of the traditional and highest-ranked universities in the UK and overseas.

Our pupils are also considering work-based apprenticeships and degree apprenticeships as these have evolved and are recognised as a high-status alternative to university. We support and guide pupils through every step of the application process, from how to find and apply for apprenticeships to interview preparation and practice.

In helping to prepare them for future employment, pupils are taught core employability skills and are supported on how to build a CV beyond demonstrating their academic ability, potential, and evidence of enthusiasm for their chosen subject with focus placed on encouraging Leysians to participate in extra-curricular activities. In addition, pupils are encouraged to apply for relevant work experience and work shadowing, holiday employment and/or voluntary work to develop key transferable skills and initiative, to prove their commitment and suitability for vocational degrees, and to help them ultimately thrive in a challenging and global workplace.

Careers guidance sessions are available at our Careers Office and with our Head of Sixth Form throughout the academic year. For further information, please contact [email protected]