Careers advice at The King Alfred School an Academy
Mrs Nina Sinclair is Careers Advisor at TKASA.
The Careers Office
The careers office is placed centrally in the school at the back of A block. It is open from 9am-3pm Monday to Friday.
You can speak to a member of the team by emailing Mrs Sinclair directly to arrange an appointment.
We might not be able to talk if we are already with a student, but we will return your call within 24 hours.
To keep up to date with our careers activities and events please like the school facebook page and follow @tkasa_careers on Instagram and X (formally Twitter).
We run a wide range of careers related events and activities throughout the year. You can see our careers calendar HERE The calendar is updated monthly.
A monthly careers and events bulletin is circulated by tutors, Facebook, school screens and noticeboards. You can also see it HERE.
All students have access to Unifrog. Unifrog is a one-stop-shop where students can easily explore their interests, then find and successfully apply for their next best step after school.
Unifrog will help you to explore your key interests and what career paths you can take to reach your goals!
Why do we provide careers advice?
Impartial careers advice is vital in schools to help students develop the skills and ability to make the most appropriate education choices for their options within school, progression beyond school and in working life. A full guide to our careers offer can be found HERE
How do we deliver it?
Our careers offer is delivered in a variety of ways including specific events, activities, one to one conversations and embedded in the curriculum.
How do we know if it works?
We work to strict quality standards set by government and complete a self-assessment activity twice a year. We also listen to student, family and staff feedback and respond accordingly.
When do we update our offer?
We assess our careers office on a bi-annual basis by taking the COMPASS self-assessment tool. They help us to reflect on our careers offer and implement improvements. You can see our most recent COMPASS assessment HERE.
Our pledge to students -
When you complete Year 7, you will have:
Met your Careers Advisor, created a CV and attended your mock interview challenge with the Careers Team
Had at least 4 encounters to learn about college, apprenticeships and university
Met multiple employers and previous students
Had the opportunity to visit a college or 6th form for an open evening
Had the opportunity to visit our careers fair in person and our online careers convention
Worked through careers activities in PSHE
Had the opportunity to call into the careers office any time
When you complete Year 8, you will have:
Had at least 4 encounters to learn about college, apprenticeships and university
Met multiple encounters with employers and previous students
Had the opportunity to visit a college or 6th form for an open evening
Had the opportunity to visit our careers fair in person and our online careers convention
Worked through careers activities in PSHE
Had the opportunity to take part in careers related trips to college, university or an employer
Had the opportunity to call into the careers office any time
When you complete Year 9, you will have:
Had at least 4 encounters to learn about college, apprenticeships and university
Met multiple encounters with employers and previous students
Had the opportunity to visit a college or 6th form for an open evening
Had the opportunity to visit our careers fair in person and our online careers convention
Worked through careers activities in PSHE
Had the opportunity to take part in careers related trips to college, university or an employer
Had the opportunity to call into the careers office any time to discuss your options
When you complete Year 10, you should have:
· Attended at least two college or sixth form open evenings
· Had at least 4 encounters to learn about college, apprenticeships and university
· Had multiple 1:1s with the Careers Team to discuss work experience and progression beyond school
· Completed a week of work experience
· Finished your CV and attended mock interview day
· Had the opportunity to attend a College Taster Day
· Visited our careers fair in person and our online careers convention
· Worked through careers activities in PSHE
· Had the opportunity to take part in careers related trips to college, university or an employer
When you complete Year 11, you should have:
· Visited the Careers Office for a progression meeting
· Completed college, 6th form and / or apprenticeship applications for your next step beyond school
· Attended application interviews at colleges and/or sixth forms with places offered
· A general plan of your career pathway
· Attended or had the opportunity to attend further college and 6th form taster activities on weekends or half term
· Attended at least two college or sixth form open evenings
· Had at least 4 encounters to learn about college, apprenticeships and university
· Had the opportunity to attend a College Taster Day
· Visited our careers fair in person and our online careers convention
· Worked through careers activities in PSHE
· Had the opportunity to call into the careers office any time to discuss your options beyond school
· Had the opportunity to access further help and support with your transition beyond school if you need it
When you complete year 12, you will have-
Visited the careers office for a progression meeting for a clearer plan of your career pathway.
Attended multiple support sessions to help prepare you for independent living.
The opportunity to visit a careers convention online or in person.
The opportunity to visit a University online or face to face.
The opportunity to attend apprenticeship application workshops.
The opportunity to meet your Career Advisor on a weekly basis.
The opportunity to access 121 support with university applications.
Completed a week of work experience.
When you complete year 13, you will have-
Visited the careers office for a progression meeting for a clear plan of your career pathway.
Attended multiple support sessions to help prepare you for independent living.
The opportunity to visit a careers convention online or in person.
The opportunity to visit a University online or face to face.
The opportunity to attend apprenticeship application workshops.
The opportunity to meet your Career Advisor on a weekly basis.
The opportunity to access 121 support with university applications.
Gatsby -
The careers offer at TKASA follows strict government guidelines to ensure the quality of its delivery. The GATSBY benchmarks are-
We assess our careers office on a bi-annual basis by taking the COMPASS self-assessment tool. They help us to reflect on our careers offer and implement improvements. You can see our most recent COMPASS assessment HERE.
Careers and Progression Events
Our events and activities are designed to help students in all year groups. We work extremely hard to provide our students with a wide a range of activities to take part in.
In addition to the events, activities and one to ones that the careers team run for students, we ensure that careers is also embedded into curriculum, classroom and tutor time.
Tutor time for all year groups- Thought of the day, job of the week, career event shout outs and more.
PHSE for all year groups- Citizenship is a key part of a healthy, happy and successful working life.
Subject classes for all year groups- Career pathways are promoted in each subject during class to highlight the relevance of content.
Display boards highlighting career pathways in each subject.
Year 10 specifics- Collapsed curriculum days include college taster days, money management tutorials, CV workshops, interview skills and mock interviews.
Year 11 Specifics- Collapsed curriculum days include 6th form and college taster days.
What do our students go on to?
TKASA 2023 Year 11 progression:
57% progressed to a college for A levels, T levels or vocational diplomas (Weston, Bridgwater & Taunton, SGS, Boomsatsuma, Access Creative, WHA, Bristol Robins Foundation, etc)
30% progressed to a school 6th form
6% progressed to apprenticeships
3% furthered their education through employment & training but not an apprenticeship
3% NEET
1% were unavailable
TKASA 2022 Year 11 progression:
62.3% progressed to a college for A levels or vocational diplomas (Weston, Bridgwater & Taunton, SGS, Boomsatsuma, Access Creative, WHA, Bristol Robins Foundation, etc)
29.8% progressed to a school 6th form (TKASA, Churchill, Backwell, etc)
1.9% progressed to apprenticeships
4.1% furthered their education through Employment & Training but not an Apprenticeship
1.9% NEET
You can read our brief guide of options beyond school HERE.
We value our relationship with previous students and they are always welcome to return to school to meet our current students to offer the benefit of their experience. Our alumni network is very popular among our students.
National Careers Service
The National Careers Service are dedicated to helping you get the advice you need for future skills, careers, work and life choices. They can help you develop your career with specially designed tools to help you move on in your career, or get you on the job ladder.
Careers Resources
Online resources -
As well as the face to face service and events and activities that we provide our students, there are some great online resources that you might like to explore-
Hyperlinks here-
Careerpilot is a careers information website, which includes:
- Your choices at 14, 16 and 18
- More about different job sectors and what they are looking for.
- About working and studying — including apprenticeship and uni level study
Get the information you need to help you plan your future work and study at www.careerpilot.org.uk
Psychometric assessments are increasing being used in working life. Many can give you some interesting career ideas that you haven't explored before. Follow the links below to have a go!
Year 10 & 11 - https://www.prospects.ac.uk/
Year 7, 8 & 9 - https://careerswales.gov.wales/buzzquiz
All ages- https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/skills-health-check/your-assessments
Apprenticeships Advice
Click here to visit the Apprenticeships website.
To learn more about careers relating to each specific subject that we teach , please look here- https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/job-sectors/subjects
For careers that need a degree or similar qualification, follow this link for more information on job roles, the qualifications required and how much you can earn- https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles
Not sure of what your career could be? Lower school students can try this quiz for some ideas - https://www.ucas.com/ucas/16-18-choices/find-career-ideas/buzz-quiz
Upper School Students? try this career quiz - https://www.prospects.ac.uk/planner
Build your skills and qualifications with free short courses delivered by - www.futurelearn.com
Partnership working-
Are you a training provider, college, university or employer who would like to engage with the school?
We are always very happy to invite stakeholders to school to talk to our students. This can be done in tutor time, subject classes, assemblies or at specific careers events.
Please click here to go to our Policies page to view our Career Guidance and Access Policy.