Careers roadshow for thousands of C&W students
Around 3,000 students from Coventry and Warwickshire will be given impartial advice about their future career and education opportunities following their GCSEs during a roadshow this spring.
The Coventry & Warwickshire Careers Hub, which was launched by the Careers & Enterprise Company in 2019 and brought to the region by Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP), has organised the Your Future Careers Roadshow in partnership with ThinkHigher.
Sixteen schools are taking part – Rugby Free Secondary School, The Avon Valley School and Performing Arts College, and Bilton School in Rugby; Henley-in-Arden School; Coventry’s Sidney Stringer Academy, Ash Green School, SEVA School and Grace Academy Coventry; Nicholas Chamberlaine School in Bedworth; Stratford upon Avon School; Trinity Catholic School in Leamington; Myton School in Warwick; Hartshill School, The Nuneaton Academy and The George Eliot School in Nuneaton; and The Queen Elizabeth Academy in Atherstone.
The Year 10 students will hear from representatives from The Ask Programme at Amazing Apprenticeships, which works with the Department for Education, Think Higher ambassadors and employers from Coventry and Warwickshire about their next steps post-16 at the roadshows which will take place throughout April and May.
Enterprise co-ordinator Emma Culey from Coventry & Warwickshire Careers Hub, who is part-funded by Think Higher Coventry and Warwickshire which is a partnership of local Higher and Further Education providers and local authorities and supported by CWLEP, said the careers roadshows had been organised after feedback from schools.
“Secondary schools have been telling us that since they have not been able to offer these kinds of activities during Covid-19, they are finding it quite difficult to deliver careers advice events with providers in person,” she said.
“The roadshows are a joint project between the Careers Hub and Think Higher to visit 16 schools to provide this impartial advice.
“The aim is to give students the opportunity to explore the different options that are open to them after their GCSEs so that they have an increased understanding of the future pathways in Further and Higher Education as well as apprenticeships.
“We will be splitting the pupils into groups of 15 to take part in the four different workshops and we hope this will improve their confidence when considering their options for their futures whether that is in Further or Higher Education or the world of work.”
Marion Plant, chair of CWLEP’s Productivity and Skills Business Group, said the Your Future Careers Roadshow was a fantastic initiative to help schools provide objective careers advice.
“It has been really difficult for students to access careers advice because of the restrictions of the pandemic but now those are easing this is a really good opportunity for Year 10 pupils to gather a wide range of information about going on to Further or Higher Education or pursuing the apprenticeships path,” she said.
“There will be a great range of providers and employers from Coventry and Warwickshire who will be sharing their impartial expertise as well as answering questions.
“Skills is one of the main focuses of CWLEP’s Strategic Reset Framework because it is important our young people have the skills which employers need and that we retain skilled people in the area to boost our economy.”
