Every student at Noel-Baker Academy is entitled to receive high-quality careers education and guidance. Our careers education offer is delivered through the curriculum and for the entire duration of a student’s time with us.
The main objectives of our careers programme are to:
Tel: 01332 572026 Ext 2067
Email: [email protected]
Ms N Brown, Mr J Crean, Miss R Maddick, Mrs S Emery and Mrs S Bray.
Your career journey at Noel-Baker Academy is carefully designed to ensure that you can develop a knowledge and understanding of the opportunities available to you after you finish secondary education.
Staff will work with you to help expand your horizons and raise your aspirations. This guarantees that you will leave school at the end of Year 11 with clear goals and the motivation and understanding to achieve them.
Our Year 11 students are in competition for the best sixth forms, FE colleges and apprenticeship and training providers in the city. To this end, we ensure through our curriculum and careers programme that they are starting the next phase of their lives on the best possible path.
The sessions for Careers are delivered through tutor time, PD lessons and assemblies to help students make decisions about their future, with an emphasis on developing employability skills.
We work with many outside providers such as the Higher Education Progression Partnership (HEPP) local sixth forms and colleges and Amazing Apprenticeships to deliver sessions specific to each year group.
We run Inspiration Weeks for Years 7-10 which gives students the opportunity to meet employers from a range of sectors, industries as well as representatives from higher education, in order to gain a better understanding of careers available to them.
For Years 10 and 11, there are a number of additional opportunities to interact with employers and Post-16 providers through workshops, college taster days, work experience, mock interview days and Post 16 open events.
Students have access to independent careers advice via a careers advisor from our partners Progress Careers, who will help inform and guide them to make the best decisions on their futures. Further discussions around careers and aspirations take place during PD lessons throughout Year 10 and Year 11. Support is given to ensure students have the time and resources to produce a quality CV along with guidance to complete their Post 16 applications, to equip them with important tools as they move to the world of work.
The aim in year 7 is to raise awareness of a range of a wide range of careers and pathways and to identify their personal traits, strengths and skills in order to develop confidence and have expectations of themselves and for their futures.
In Year 8, students start to consider what they may want to choose for GCSEs. Students’ encounters with employers and further education providers are increased to encourage aspiration and consideration of their future.
This year emphasises preparation for GCSE options in terms of considering how these link to future careers pathways and progression routes. Students also increase their understanding of the importance of STEM subjects and their significance in a range of careers.
Work Experience takes place in year 10. Our Next Steps event held annually in October introduces them to providers and employers to build confidence in approaching their work experience. Their careers week lessons concentrate on working life and the options they will have after year 11.
Careers lessons in year 11 focus on making well informed and realistic choices for Post-16 progression. To support this we hold our annual Next Steps Event in October where providers and employers are gathered for students to meet, question and discover options available to them, developing a better understanding of how Post-16 pathways link to possible progression routes and future careers. All students have a careers interview with a careers advisor. A series of targeted assemblies support their knowledge of the options available.
It is never too early (or too late) to start thinking about careers and where yours could take you. We have provided some links below that may help you to begin thinking about how your interests, skills and talents could match up to a successful career.
Every Year 11 student will have a careers interview with a qualified Careers Advisor. They may also have follow up interviews with staff in school to support them.
Start with the careers interests quiz from Pearson by following this link: Careers interests .
Pearson also provides a wealth of information on a wide range of industry sectors. Have a look by following this link: Industry sectors
The icould website is the perfect place to develop your aspirations. They have videos looking at what a huge number of different careers entail, where you hear about what is involved from the people who do the jobs on a day-to-day basis. There are also personality quizzes to help guide you on which careers you would be well suited to, as well as tips on GCSE options and routes into further education and employment. Have a look by following this link: icould
The National Careers Service provides lifelong information, advice and guidance on careers. There are links to assess your skills, search job profiles and find courses, as well as writing quality CVs and conducting successful interviews. Have a look by following this link: National Careers Service
The school will monitor its success in supporting students to take up education or training which offers good long-term prospects. One way of doing this is through use of destination measures data. The school closely monitors the number of students who are recorded as not in education, employment or training (NEET) after they have left school.
The table below shows the percentage of students who leave Noel-Baker Academy and who move on to and sustain a place in some form of education, employment or training.
| Student Information | Three year trends for post 16 education, employment, or apprenticeship | ||
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
| Noel-Baker students in post 16 options | 214 | 202 | 136 |
| Noel-Baker students not in post 16 options | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Cohort size | 216 | 206 | 142 |
This matches the trend in national data. We have been below both the national data and the data for Derby for the last 2 years.
Formal monitoring of the impact of CEIAG and provider access will be carried out through:
In October 2024, Noel-Baker Academy was awarded Career Mark, the national ‘Quality in Careers Standard’ for its careers education, information, advice and guidance. Moving forward, leaders at Noel-Baker Academy intend to explore use of this standard in order to provide further verification of the quality and impact of the CEIAG provision on offer at the school.
