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Higher Education and Careers

Careers information and advice is led by our Head of Careers, Mrs Kate Toynton. At St Augustine’s Priory we understand that, for many students, making decisions about the future can be somewhat overwhelming. In support of our Mission Statement of ‘Our Girls will Change the World’ all our staff aim to provide students with the best advice and guidance to support their decision-making from year 7 through to university choices or apprenticeships to develop the skills needed in today’s fast changing world.

Our pupils are supported at every stage of their development by our highly experienced and knowledgeable staff. The role of the Careers’ Programme is to help all pupils build a solid foundation for their future careers through supporting them to identify their skills and interests, aptitudes, and abilities.

Throughout their time at St Augustine’s Priory every student will experience:

Individual academic mentoring sessions with internal and external providers
Subject-specific career related information
Bespoke preparation for apprenticeships, UCAS and university admissions tests
Dedicated programme of support for Medicine and Dentistry
Curriculum Vitae preparation
Specialised interview practice
Tailored support for overseas applications, including accessing scholarships and financial support
Digital resource provision
Access to Unifrog platform
Subject portfolio preparation sessions
Form time focus on Careers
Careers Spotlight – contacts with alumni and other employers provide opportunities for careers insights and advice through events and meetings
Participation in Enterprise events
Links with universities

The Careers Programme is modified and updated annually as necessary in the light of pupil feedback.

Download the school’s Careers Education, Information, Advice & Guidance (CEIAG) policy.

The Gatsby Benchmarks

The Gatsby Benchmarks, which are outlined below, are embedded into the curriculum at St Augustine’s Priory:

A stable Careers Programme.
Addressing the needs of each pupil
Learning from Career & Labour Market Information.
Linking Curriculum Learning to Careers.
Encounters with Employers & Employees.
Experiences of Workplaces.
Encounters with Further & Higher Education.
Personal Guidance.

Gatsby Benchmarks

Resources for Parents

Parents, carers, and guardians play an important part in career choices and there are many on-line resources readily available to help parents when discussing options with their children. Please find below a link to some of those resources should you require them:

Parental Guidance: This site offers a range of general careers information and advice and is produced and updated by the Careers Writers Association.

National Careers Service: This government website is a national resource for all ages and stages and has useful sections on many topics including skills development, volunteering, gap year planning, career research, work experience, and support for people with disabilities entering education or work.

Career Mag for Parents: Published by Careermap, this online magazine supports parents with advice and guidance on careers and further education choices.

UCAS University Guide for Parents: UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, is the UK’s shared admissions service for higher education. There is lots of information on the UCAS website for making post-18 choices including this guide specifically aimed at parents.

Apprenticeships (including Degree Apprenticeships)

Amazing Apprenticeships Amazing Apprenticeships is a leading apprenticeship organisation working with education and employers. Their website contains lots of excellent resources including monthly ‘parent packs’ and podcasts.

RateMyApprenticeship.co.uk This site bases its information on ratings from apprentices. It has a parent’s guide section among lots of other useful information.

Labour Market Information

Graduate employment prospects are one of the factors often used to select university courses.

High Fliers research publish reports about the graduate market compiled from interviews with over 12,000 graduates who left university the previous year.

The Edge Foundation produces a regular series of Skills Shortage Bulletins exploring skills shortages across key areas of the economy.

Work Experience

At St Augustine’s Priory, we are committed to delivering a curriculum that inspires and encourages academic excellence. In addition, our students are encouraged to flourish and fulfil their potential within the wider community as well as academically.

Our pastoral system nurtures and guides, and pupils enjoy an extra-curricular programme that stretches and enthuses pupils beyond the classroom. We seek to create an overall experience that produces intelligent, confident, and caring individuals.

Having experiences of workplaces is part of a young person’s exploration of the working work and helps them develop a sense of their future selves. We encourage all pupils to actively engage in finding out about workplaces through experiences; some such options include applying for schemes, engaging in mock interview sessions, and seeking work experience opportunities with support from staff, parents, and networking contacts. Work experience attendance is expected to take place outside of term time, and with parent/guardian approval.

We encourage pupils to be clear about the purpose or objective of work experience and to consider making it as positive as possible by:

Developing an understanding of workplace expectations and behaviours.
Developing practical skills.
Increasing awareness of careers and sectors.
Preparing for future recruitment purposes.
Developing their personal network.
Reflect on information learned to inform future experiences.

Experiences of workplaces can include voluntary work with charities or social action projects, work experience placements or work shadowing. Reflection is one of the most essential elements of the process and should be undertaken for all experiences.