William Howard School is committed to raising the aspirations of all our students through the provision of varied careers education and high-quality impartial advice guidance (CEIAG) supporting them in making and managing choices and transitions that affect their futures, as well as preparing them for the world of work.

Parents Information
Students Information
Employers Information

The Careers Leader at William Howard School is Mrs Tracey Hill, Associate Assistant Headteacher (Email Careers Lead Telephone 016977 45700 ext 282). The Careers programme is overseen by Mrs Hill, who is qualified in both Level 6 Careers Guidance and Development and Level 7 PG Cert Careers Leadership, in line with DfE requirements. She is supported by Mrs Meakin who runs the 1-1 careers interviews. Mrs Meakin is also qualified in Level 6 Careers Guidance and Development in line with DfE requirements.

As a school, we work with the careers company Inspira to provide more targeted careers work with our at risk of NEET students (not in education, employment and training) and our vulnerable students including SEND. We work with Cumbria Work Experience to offer risk assessed, quality work experience placements for Year 11 and Year 12 students.

In line with the Baker Clause, we provide a range of opportunities for students from Year 7 all the way through to Year 13 to engage with the world of higher/further education, training, and work. Opportunities such as external speakers, talks from alumni students, university visits, work experience, careers and enterprise competitions and our wide range of extra-curricular activities ensure that our students develop the knowledge, skills, and experiences necessary to thrive once they leave our care. The opportunities, experiences and events are tailored to suit the varied needs and interests of our students.

​All students in Year 11 undertake a week’s work experience placement to give them an exciting opportunity to enter the world of work and which gives them a deeper understanding of skills required in the workplace. These placements can be organised by the students themselves, allowing them to focus on areas of interest in pursuing their career paths and the opportunity to draw on the support of family networks. Alternatively, students can make their own selections from a pre-approved list of placements that are sourced and supported by CWEX. Students benefit from completing detailed logbooks where they collaborate with their employers to track their experiences and progress and evidence their achievements.

​All students in Year 12 undertake a week’s work experience placement in the summer term. It is the responsibility of the student to organise their own placements to promote independence, organisational skills and to build their network of useful contacts. Students sourcing their own placements means that they can secure placements in areas of their interest and broaden their experience in specific career pathways.

We work with many external organisations providing further advice and opportunities for our students. Our Enterprise Advisor is Alan Wilson, who works alongside our Careers Leader to support students with pathways into industry, allowing us to further bridge the gap between the world of work and education.

Alan is a Production Manager, overseeing Pirelli’s operations in the UK. He is responsible for ensuring the efficient operation of the company’s two factories, in Carlisle and Burton on Trent, which together produce 10,000 tyres daily. His role includes overseeing the installation of machinery that manufactures these tyres, as well as introducing innovations to improve products and expand production. Alan’s deep expertise in manufacturing, apprenticeships, and the skills required in the industry will provide expert guidance to students, especially in considering apprenticeships as an alternative career route.

Provider Access Policy

This policy statement sets out Cumbria Education Trust’s arrangements for managing the access of providers to pupils and students within the Trust for the purpose of giving them information about the provider’s education or training offer from Year 7 upwards. This complies with our Academies legal obligations under Section 42B of the Education Act 1997 and the Amendment to the Technical and Further Education Act 2017 (Baker Clause).

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Provider Access Policy

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Provider Access Legislation

The updated provider access legislation (PAL) has now been enacted. It specifies schools must provide at least six encounters with approved providers of apprenticeships and technical education for all their students:

  • Two encounters for pupils during the ‘first key phase’ (Years 7, 8 and 9) that are mandatory for all pupils to attend – At WHS, students attend an IAG morning with a range of providers from industry, training and further education in accordance with our provider access policy and the Gatsby benchmarks.
  • Two encounters for pupils during the ‘second key phase’ (Year 10 or 11) that are mandatory for all pupils to attend – At WHS, students attend an IAG day of mock interviews from industry, training and further education in accordance with our provider access policy.  Year 11 students also attend a week of work experience in accordance with the Gatsby benchmarks.
  • Two encounters for pupils during the ‘third key phase’ (Year 12 or 13) that are mandatory for the school to put on but optional for pupils to attend – At WHS students attend a mock interview morning from industry, training and further and higher education in accordance with our provider access policy.  Year 12 students attend two separate visits to HE institutions and speak to Apprenticeship providers.

The new legislation aims to help learners understand and take-up, not just apprenticeships, but wider technical education options such as T-Levels and Higher Technical Qualifications. Carlisle College T Levels Brochure

WHS Alumni​

Are you an ex-student of William Howard School? Please visit our Alumni Page 

Careers Events

Through our Personal Development lessons, assemblies and careers events, we raise aspirations about what students can achieve. Helping them to progress to Higher Education, Apprenticeships, and the wider world of work, we aim to opens their eyes to professions and careers that they may never have thought of.

Over the Academic Year we offer varied careers and enterprise activities and support the national campaigns for Enterprise Week, My Money Week, National Apprenticeship Week and National Careers Week.

2024-25 Events:

  • Year 11 Work Experience – Monday 18th to Friday 22nd November 2024
  • Year 11 Post 16 Morning – Friday 29th November 2024
  • Year 9 Options IAG Morning – Friday 10th January 2025
  • Years 7 & 8 IAG Day – Friday 9th May 2025
  • Year 10 Mock Interview and IAG Morning – Friday 11th July 2025
Date Year Group Action BY
July – September 11 and 13 Support and Monitor Leavers Destinations TH
Ongoing All Years Taught Personal Development Curriculum PD Team
September 11 Assembly on Post 16 Options TH
September 11 Intended Destinations Data Capture TH
October 10 Work Experience Letters and Assembly TH
October 11 Confirmed Destinations Data 2023 leavers TH/Inspira
October 11 Careers Pathways Day TH
November 12 Global Enterprise Week TH
December 11 Careers Pathways Follow up TH
January 9 Options Day TH
January 11 Impartial IAG to targeted students TH/Inspira
January All Years Skills Fair – Sands Centre Carlisle TH
January 11 Apprenticeship Assembly TH
January 11 Post 16 Options Evening SJB/TSW
January 9 KS4 Options Evening TH/KP
February 12 Dream Placement TH
March All Years National Careers Week Events TH
March Year 7 & 8 Careers Fair and Workshops TH
April 11 Intended Destinations Data Capture TH
April 11 Impartial IAG to targeted students TH/Inspira
June All Years My Money Week:
Events, speakers and competitions		 TH
June 10 Careers Day: Talks and workshops TH

 

William Howard students can access a wealth of information and advice regarding the careers choices on our VLE. (https://williamhoward.fireflycloud.net/careers)

Impact Statement

Measuring and assessing the impact of the careers programme on students at William Howard School we believe is very important and we do this in a number a of ways. We identify and analyse the destinations of our Year 11 and 13 students taking into account their prior attainment. For Year 11 students, we record pathways including:

  • Level 2 courses
  • Level 2 apprenticeships
  • Level 3 courses
  • Level 3 apprenticeships

Analysis of sector-based outcomes to ensure our advice is relevant to the jobs available and to ensure that we promote equality of opportunity The proportion of students going onto Level 3 courses or apprenticeships is tracked over time, taking into account changes in the attainment level of year groups at the end of Key Stage 2.

For Year 13 students we identify and analyse whether students:

  • go onto higher education and the range of courses being studied and the universities/colleges being attended
  • go onto an apprenticeship and whether it is at Intermediate, Advanced or Higher level.

We track students for three years from the end of Year 11, identifying and reviewing where students leave or change courses/apprenticeships.

We are very keen to get the views of students on the Careers, Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) they received during their five or seven years at William Howard. We ask all Year 11 and 13 students to complete an online survey to find out their aspirations at the start of the year and at the end of the year on the CEIAG programme and their overall assessment of the programme.

In addition, our Enterprise Adviser (business volunteer who support the school develop its careers provision), meets with our student council to find out more about what they liked and disliked about the careers programme and ways they believe it can be improved.

We value the views of parents on how well we have helped them to support their child or children make rational informed career decisions. Business volunteers are asked for their feedback on each individual careers events that they take part in, such as careers/trade fairs, mock interviews and employer talks and they write these comments in a visitors book.

In addition, the school’s Enterprise Advisor evaluates the careers programme from a business viewpoint and collate the views of other business volunteers.

Labour Market Information (LMI)

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. The data sources relating to hours and pay are estimates based on the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Office for National Statistics). The pay estimates provided relate to mean pay for full-time jobs in an occupation. The estimates of future employment prospects are projections taken from the Working Futures study and are based on past employment trends.

Qualifications Guide

The UK education sector offers a wide variety of qualification types including academic, vocational and skills-related qualifications at different levels and different difficulties. This Qualifications Guide outlines in brief some of the most popular qualifications, but there are many more including professional qualifications.

Apprenticeships

What is an apprenticeship?  Find out more here: Apprenticeship facts


To apply for an apprenticeship visit www.gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship

View apprenticeships relating to preferred subjects:

Work Experience

We encourage students to take part in work experience and offer a week of work experience to Year 11 students in the Autumn Term. https://williamhoward.fireflycloud.net/careers/work-experience

WHS work closely with the local Business Community and are members of the local business forum Carlisle Ambassadors Group.  http://carlisleambassadors.co.uk/

CV Writing

In today’s competitive jobs market, it’s more important than ever to make a good first impression. This can often be your CV, so it needs to be putting across the right messages, with the right presentation, and no mistakes.

When you have been in full-time education most of your life your qualifications will probably be your main achievement. If you don’t have a lot of work experience, try to make your course work relevant to the skills you’d use in the job. For example, you probably use time management, research and IT skills every day. You may also be able to say you’re a fast learner, and are up to date with the latest equipment and techniques in your field.

The most important thing is to take your time over your CV – make sure it’s the best it can be. You might want to leave it for a couple of days and then come back to it with a fresh pair of eyes. Get it checked over by several people to see if they can spot anything you can’t. When you’ve been working on something for a long time it can be difficult to see ways in which it can be improved. But with CVs, it’s easy to make the mistake, but very difficult to correct the damage done…

Some of the most common CV errors are:

  1. Typing errors, and poor spelling and grammar
  2. Listing duties instead of achievements
  3. Not tailoring your CV
  4. Visually unappealing and difficult to read
  5. Too long or too short

Link to the careers page on the WHS VLE: Applications / Interview Tips — William Howard School (fireflycloud.net)

Advice from external sources: