Aims
At The Kingsway School we provide our students with:
- Support to continue in learning, apprenticeships and employment.
- Comprehensive information and advice which responds to the needs of each learner.
- Empowerment to plan and manage their own futures.
- Careers guidance which informs pupils of local employment needs.
- High aspirations for what they can achieve in the future.
- Equality of opportunity and a challenge to stereotypes.
- Help with their progress to the next stage in their careers.
School Careers Contact:
Mr J. Weil – Assistant Headteacher & Careers Lead
j.weil@kingsway.stockport.sch.uk
Careers Programme
Our Careers programme prepares students for future success in education, employment or training. Our Careers programme has been designed to help meet the 8 Gatsby benchmarks and The Careers Development Framework devised by the (CDI) Career Development Institute. All students receive unbiased information about potential next steps and high-quality careers guidance. Our Careers programme provides good quality, meaningful opportunities for students to encounter the world of work.
Gatsby Benchmarks
The eight Gatsby Benchmarks of Good Career Guidance are:
1. A stable careers programme
2. Learning from career and labour market information
3. Addressing the needs of each pupil
4. Linking curriculum learning to careers
5. Encounters with employers and employees
6. Experiences of workplaces
7. Encounters with further and higher education
8. Personal guidance
To read more about the Gatsby benchmarks, please click here.
The Careers Development Framework
The CDI’s Career Development Framework describes the six learning outcomes that career development programmes should focus on to ensure clients develop the career development skills that they need to have positive careers.
To read more about The Careers Development Framework, please click here.
Preparing for the Future
Here we ask students to look broadly at their aspirations for the future and know the path to achieve these. They should be prepared for a range of everyday challenges as part of this topic. Students should also receive in-depth careers education and guidance via this topic area. This includes developing students’ understanding of the routes into different career paths and asking them to reflect on the validity of each journey in relation to themselves. Preparing for the future sessions are taught through a mixture of PPE lessons and tutor time activities.
The table below shows the Preparing for the Future sessions for each year group, mapped against Gatsby Benchmarks and CDI Learning Areas.
Preparing for the Future
Unifrog
At Kingsway we use the impartial careers advice website called Unifrog. Unifrog is an online tool that each student can access to support them in preparing for the next steps in their educational pathway towards employment, informing them about varying careers and a full range of options available to them. Students can easily find and apply for every course and apprenticeship in the UK – including choices from sixth form and colleges, apprenticeships and university courses.
Unifrog helps students to consider and plan for their transition to the right destinations. Students can compare side-by-side an extensive selection of post-16 opportunities.
Students are encouraged to use the tool to log skills and experiences linked to employability, and to log activities in which they have felt a sense of achievement, helping to build a portfolio of evidence towards their next steps.
Unifrog has an extensive careers library for students to browse, research and ‘favourite’ in their discovery of the fast-changing professional world they are preparing to enter. The careers library: -
- Includes over 1000 career profiles
- Presents information from a range of sources, including local and national labour market information
- Includes qualifications and skills needed, interviews with industry professionals and labour market information
- Explores progression opportunities and what a working week really looks like.
For a video introducing Unifrog, please click here.
Please view the student launch videos below: -
Students access the platform by clicking a link in their welcome email, where they create a password and can begin using the platform. They login to Unifrog using their email address and password and they can do so from any computer, tablet or smartphone.
To login to Unifrog, please click here.
Other Elements of our Careers Programme
We have a wide range of additional elements to our Careers Programme. These include: -
Key Stage 3 Careers Insights Programme
We believe that real-life insights from professionals can be incredibly valuable for students as they begin to consider their future options. With this in mind, we invite parents and guardians to volunteer to visit the school and speak to our KS3 students about their careers. This is an informal opportunity to share experiences, explain what jobs involve, and answer questions students have. We welcome volunteers from all industries and professions—whether parents and carers work in healthcare, construction, finance, technology, the arts, or any other field, their insights are invaluable in broadening our students' horizons.
Year 9 Careers Fair
This event will provide students with a chance to connect their learning to the modern world and understand their valuable place in society as well as make informed choices about their upcoming GCSE options. A wide variety of employers and professions which cover a range of industries are in attendance as well as representatives from the main local colleges and training providers.
Year 10 Post-16 College Taster Days
Year 10 students attend Post-16 College Taster Days during the summer term each academic year. As Year 10 students start to think about their next steps, College Taster Days are a great way for them to experience college life, meet the staff and participate in sample lessons in a range of subjects.
Year 10 Post-16 Evening
This event takes the form of a Careers Fair, with a wide variety of Post-16 education providers, sixth form colleges, vocational training providers and local employers in attendance. This event supports students in making informed choices about their further education or future work opportunities and aims to provide students a clearer line of sight into potential careers and career pathways.
Year 11 Post-16 college and sixth form assemblies
Year 11 begins with a series of assemblies delivered by local post-16 colleges and sixth forms aimed at providing students up-to-date information about each institution – the courses they provide, the facilities available and the student experience they offer.
Our careers programme is evaluated through student voice, observations and the destinations of our students at the end of Year 11. Furthermore, feedback from employers, colleges and parents is used to help improve our programme.
Careers Provider Access Policy Statement
Careers Contact for Employers
We are always keen to extend our careers programme. Various sized rooms, from large assembly halls, to IT suites and technical support with presentations can be offered to visiting providers, as appropriate.
If you are a business or employer and feel you can help provide excellent careers information or opportunities for our students, then please contact the school's careers leader: Mr J Weil, Assistant Headteacher: j.weil@kingsway.stockport.sch.uk or 0161 428 7706.
Careerometer
The widget can be used to explore and compare key information about occupations to support the process of identifying potential careers.
The Careerometer widget provides access to a selection of headline data relating to pay, weekly hours of work and future employment prospects.
The data are organised by occupation: simply type in the title of the job you are interested in and the widget provides a series of options from which you can select the most relevant to you.
This page will next be reviewed: October 2026