Careers Education Information, Advice and Guidance
View our CEIAG Policy (Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance) and Provider Access Policy here. View our LJS Careers 5 year journey here.
Our career describes our journey through life, learning and work and we all need to actively develop our careers, in order to make the best of them.
Laurence Jackson School supports all of our students through a planned programme of activities which help to identify 14-19 pathways that are right for each individual and which allows students to manage their careers, sustain employability and achieve personal and economic wellbeing throughout their lives.
All young people will develop the skills needed to make a successful transition from education into the workplace
Students in all year groups will take part in various career learning activities throughout school, where they will; learn about the labour market and how their school subjects link to careers; have meaningful encounters with employers and further and higher education providers; gain experiences of the real working world; and receive individual and personalised guidance at key stages of their educational pathways.
Laurence Jackson School supports students to develop the six career development skills outlined below, which the CDI’s Career Development Framework advises people need to have positive careers.

Contact and Updates
Miss H Mitchinson, Careers Education Co-ordinator oversees the Careers Education Programme supported by the Careers Lead, Mrs C Sunley.
Careers Education
Students across all year groups participate in a structured and comprehensive programme of Careers Education, complementing and supporting the Careers Information, Advice and Guidance provision within school. This is delivered through tutorial lessons and enrichment activities. A progressive programme of activities from Year 7 onwards helps students to explore career paths and to manage individualised career development.
The main programme of careers events and activities is summarised below:
Year 7: Students explore their awareness of how their careers education can help them make realistic career choices in planning for their future.
Year 8: Students explore enterprise skills, research potential careers focusing on interests and preferences, understand what labour market intelligence (LMI) is and how to use it to make informed decisions about future careers.
Year 9: Students learn about qualification routes, vocational courses, A-levels and Apprenticeship / Traineeships, T Levels and Higher Education. Guidance is also offered to students when making their GCSE option choices.
Year 10: Students are introduced to the Work Experience Programme where they participate in a week out of school on a work-related placement and reflect on the skills and experiences they have developed during their placement. Students also learn about Employment Rights and the common features of a payslip and the importance of paying tax and NI contributions. Students are introduced to the local Further Education College’s, Sixth Form College’s, Training and Apprenticeship Providers and Universities.
Year 11: Students recap the different Post-16 routes, learn about skills that employers are expecting them to develop, understand how to write a personal statement, CV and letter of application.
All Year 11 students receive at least one careers appointment with Miss H Mitchinson or an independent and impartial Careers Advisor (Progress Careers) to explore their options and support their transition to post-16 education or training.
In addition, regular events are organised for students throughout the school year, including an annual Careers Convention, STEM visits (to local employers and the Tees Valley Skills & STEM Event), College Taster Day, Making Opportunities Conference, FE & HE Workshops and visits, transition and application sessions.
All the above aim to provide students with information about the breadth of careers and study options available. For more information please see Laurence Jackson School’s CEIAG Policy.
IMPACT
We are proud to deliver a wide and varied careers programme to students whilst working to meet the Gatsby Benchmarks (a framework of 8 guidelines about what makes the best careers provision in schools and colleges). Our current results using the Compass Careers Benchmark Tool can be viewed here.
INDIVIDUAL SUPPORT
We appreciate certain groups or individual students may need extra help and / or guidance and these groups will be targeted and given differentiated CIAG as appropriate.
Groups may include but are not limited to: most able; disadvantaged; pupil premium; those in danger of becoming NEET; EAL.
Activities targeted at specific groups take place throughout the year, such as:
- Individual Support
- College / training providers open days and visits
- Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council individual careers interviews
- Visiting speakers
- Employer visits
- Career fairs
- Mock interviews
Evaluation of the Careers Programme
We evaluate the effectiveness and impact of our Careers programme by measuring our success against:
Our NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) figures are much lower than the local and national averages. Our most recent destination data can be found here.
We would love to hear your feedback, ideas and offers for support in relation to careers at Laurence Jackson School, so we welcome your thoughts. Complete our online feedback form here.
Useful Links
Local Information and Support
Exploring Options and Pathways
Help and Ideas
Parents, Carers and Guardians
The Careers Library is situated on the first floor within the School Library. Both this and the Careers Office are stocked with helpful careers literature, college course guides and University prospectus.
View our Provider Access Policy here.
Online Careers Information:
https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/
https://teesvalley-ca.gov.uk/
https://icould.com/
http://www.studentladder.co.uk/
http://www.brightknowledge.org/
https://www.teesvalleycareers.com/students/
Useful Websites
Further Career Information