Careers

The Careers Team includes Mr P Ince, Senior Leader for Careers.

Mr Ince is available for students for one-to-one interviews and drop-in sessions. 

If you wish to book a careers appointment please contact the main reception number 0161 529 5200 or email philip.ince@lowryacademy.org.uk

Careers Strategy

Our careers strategy follows The Gatsby Benchmarks. This is a framework of 8 benchmarks that schools can use to improve the career guidance system. These benchmarks are:

• A stable career programme
• Learning from local career market information
• Addressing individual need
• Linking curriculum learning to careers
• A range of encounters with employers and employees
• Experiences of workplaces
• Encounters with further and higher education
• Independent personal guidance

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of our programme, students complete an Aspire evaluation at the beginning and end of each academic year, and we complete the Gatsby 8 point guidance compass+ tool termly. School provision for CEIAG is evaluated and reviewed termly with the Salford Enterprise Co-ordinator. We will closely monitor student feedback and to assess the impact of provision.

Teachers should take the time to familiarise themselves with the Gatsby Benchmarks, which we are working towards receiving accreditation for. For information about statutory guidance towards careers and the Gatsby bench marks please see the following links. 

Click here for statutory guidance. 

Click here to find out more about the Gatsby Benchmarks. 

For more information please contact Mrs Godfrey or Mr Ince. 

Post 16 Choices

A-Levels

A level courses will have undergone changes to make them ‘linear’. This means all exams are taken at the end of the course. Key features of new A-levels are:

• Their difficulty will be the same as old A-levels
• They will be linear
• Exams will have a greater variety to questions types (e.g. multiple choice)
• Coursework will be reduced
• It will be still be possible to complete an A level in one year as long as all assessments are completed at the end
• Grading will remain as A*-E

A-Levels are usually offered in traditional academic subjects such as English, Theatre Studies, Photography, Biology or Maths.

Taking A-Levels is a good option if you want to go to university. You can sometimes take a mixture of A-Level and BTEC subjects at some colleges. Just make sure these are acceptable at the University you want to apply for.

T Levels

T Levels are new courses which follow GCSEs and are equivalent to 3 A-levels. These 2 year courses, which launched September 2020, have been developed in collaboration with employers and businesses so that the content meets the needs of industry and prepares students for work, further training or study.

T Levels offer students a mixture of classroom learning and ‘on-the-job’ experience during an industry placement of at least 315 hours (approximately 45 days).

In time, students will be able to take a T Level in the following subject areas:

• Accounting
• Agriculture, Land Management and Production
• Animal Care and Management
• Building Services Engineering for Construction
• Catering
• Craft and Design
• Design and Development for Engineering and Manufacturing
• Design, Surveying and Planning for Construction 
• Digital Business Services 
• Digital Production, Design and Development
• Digital Support and Services
• Education and Childcare
• Finance
• Hair, Beauty and Aesthetics
• Health 
• Healthcare Science
• Human Resources
• Legal
• Maintenance, Installation and Repair for Engineering and Manufacturing
• Management and Administration
• Engineering, Manufacturing, Processing and Control
• Media, Broadcast and Production
• Onsite Construction 
• Science 

BTEC Courses

BTECs are often vocational (work related) and specialist qualifications. They tend to provide courses for 16-18 year olds, as well as adult learners and often have close links with the community.

FE colleges offer a wide range of courses at a variety of levels. Each college is different, so you will need to check with a chosen college and what courses they offer. Some of the most usual courses include:

• Catering and Hospitality
• Travel and Tourism
• Health and Social Care
• Childcare
• Business Studies
• ICT/Computing
• Hair and Beauty
• Sport and Public Services
• Performing Arts
• Media
• Art
• Animal Care
• Construction

However, there are many more on offer.

The qualifications linked to these vocational areas could be: NVQs, BTECs, HNCs, HNDs and Foundation Degrees. These qualifications (mostly NVQ and BTEC) are offered at different levels. To get onto a certain level, you need:

• Level 1 requires 2’s at GCSE
• Level 2 requires four x 3’s at GCSE
• Level 3 requires five x 4’s at GCSE (inc English and Maths at 4+)

These can vary for each college provider.

Salford City College is our main college that we work with.

Other main colleges include

• Bolton College
• Bolton Sixth Form college
• Loreto College

Apprenticeship

If you are interested in an apprenticeship and would like to find out more information, click on the following link to learn more  National Apprenticeship Website.

You can also call The Apprenticeship Hotline if you wish to speak to an impartial advisor:

Apprenticeship helpline – 0800 015 0400 – 8am to 10pm, 7 days a week.

How to find an apprenticeship?

• You can find an apprenticeship by yourself using the National Apprenticeship Website.
• You can ask employers directly.
• You can look at local FE College vacancies.

If you would like support, then you can apply to a training provider who will act like a recruitment agency, working together with you to find an apprenticeship.

Book an appointment with your careers advisor for further advice about applying for apprenticeships.

It is worth bearing in mind, that multiple people advise for apprenticeships, so make sure you stick out in the crowd and create an excellent CV!

Career Websites

• National Career Service – for jobs, careers advice, job profiles.
• Prospects – Match your skills to over 400+ jobs/ see where your subject can take you.
• ICould – career videos, job information, and ideas for your future.
• UCAS – researching university and degree courses.
• The Greater Manchester Apprenticeship & Career service to help young people plan their future. Lots of information – Xello programme, Our Pass, college, what your options are. 

Labour Market Information

Labour Market Information is interesting and relevant to you! It tells you what jobs are out there in your area. Labour Marketing information also tells you:

• Job vacancies
• Average earnings by job
• Trends for the future
• Skills and qualifications required by employers
• Skills shortages in the region

Learning how to use Labour market information can help you to make informed decisions about future training or consider the skills you need to develop for future career choices - https://www.lmiforall.org.uk/careerometer

College Websites

Salford City College (Worsley, Pendleton, Eccles, Future Skills, City Skills ) – www.salfordcc.ac.uk

Bolton College – www.boltoncc.ac.uk

Bolton Sixth Form – www.bolton-sfc.ac.uk

Access to music www.accesscreative.ac.uk

Manchester College – www.tmc.ac.uk

Resources for Parents

Here at The Lowry Academy, we are here to support you in helping your child choose the right Post 16 options and support with their career choices.

If you have any concerns regarding Post-16 options, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. A little advice can help take the pressure off.

All Year 11 pupils are prioritised between September and January for a careers meeting. Careers meetings are open to Year 8-10 pupils available between February and July. There are lots of resources that you can use to support your child whilst they are in school.

Careers education will be delivered throughout all subjects at The Lowry Academy. Dedicated lesson time will be provided through PSHE lessons, but students will also gain valuable careers related experiences through a range of other events including: 

• Form time activities 
• Gender Inspiration Days 
• Enrichment days 
• Careers Days 
• School trips 
• University visits  
• CV preparation 
• Mock interviews 
• Networking events 
• Careers fairs 
• Careers themed assemblies 
• Employer visits 

Your first port of call for more information should be the students form teacher. The Head of Careers at The Lowry Academy is Mr Ince who is always available to offer careers related advice. In addition, we have a careers advisors Mrs Godfrey who works with the academy and offer students the opportunity to ‘drop in’ during lunchtime. All students will also have scheduled one to one meetings with our advisors at regular intervals throughout their time at The Lowry Academy, where they can discuss, map out and explore career opportunities. The advice and information offered is independent and impartial. 

If you would like to book an appointment to speak to our Careers Team, please email judith.godfrey@lowryacademy.org.uk or philip.ince@lowryacademy.org.uk

A booklet produced by Success at School contains information on how to support your child into finding the appropriate career pathway for them.  

Click here to download the guide. 

Careers Advice for Parents website 

This is an online website designed to give you, as parents, an easy to read overview of all the essential facts on finding jobs and apprenticeships or choosing further and higher education courses which could make a real difference to your child's future career prospects. To link to the Careers Advice for Parents website, please click https://www.careeralchemy.co.uk/inspired-teenager.html# 

The Parents' Guide to website offers a range of guides to help parents to support their children with their choices -  https://www.theparentsguideto.co.uk/guides 

Guides are available to download for various costs. 

Apprenticeships publish monthly guidance for parents. See the latest here https://amazingapprenticeships.com/resource/parents-pack-march-2020/

Employers

The Careers strategy at The Lowry Academy is based on The Gatsby Benchmarks. Sir John Holman, a former Headteacher and founder of the National STEM Learning Centre, was asked by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation to undertake an independent, international review of career guidance. He visited six countries, analysed good practice in English schools and did a comprehensive review of current literature. From all of this, Sir John wrote the  Good Career Guidance Report. In the report he identifies what 'good' looks like and outlines a framework of eight benchmarks that schools can use to improve their career guidance system.

The 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 

We value the relationships we hold with employers and hope to continue to build upon the network we currently enjoy. Should you feel that your company can offer invaluable advice, experience or information for our students, we would encourage you to get in touch to discuss how we can work together to ensure the best for our students. 

We are looking at developing a network of Alumni at The Lowry Academy who want to inspire the next generation. In an effort to raise the aspirations of our students at The Lowry Academy we would like to promote the successes of our ex-pupils through the implementation of our alumni profiles.

If you could tell us a little about your life and career after The Lowry Academy and would be willing to allow us to use your information on the school website and around the school, please complete the form by clicking the following link - https://forms.office.com/e/ywvAYS9WQE 

UTC Media City

University Technical Colleges are government funded schools that offer 14 – 18-year-old a different option at the end of Year 9. They teach students technical subjects in a whole new way and are educating the inventors, programmers, developers, engineers, and technicians of tomorrow. 

UTCs integrate technical, practical and academic learning and create an environment where students can thrive and develop the abilities that tomorrow’s industries will need. 

If a representative of UTC Media City would like to present to Year 9 please see the access policy below. 

Provider Access Policy