At Birkdale High School we believe that supporting young people to make informed decisions about a wide range of progression, learning and work decisions is fundamentally important to individual development and wellbeing, as well as to the prosperity of British society and the economy.

The work of schools, colleges and education providers is essential in providing this support. In a self-improving system, education providers must work together with a firm commitment to the values and behaviours that will lead to young people making better informed choices.

Careers Lead is Mr Paul Marshall (pmarshall1@birkdalehigh.co.uk)

Independent Careers Adviser is Ms J Edwards (jedwards@birkdalehigh.co.uk)

Link Governor is Ms L Wilson

We aim to raise aspirations, challenge stereotypes and encourage pupils to consider a wide range of careers.

Young people’s careers are forged out of their experience, progress and achievements in learning and work. All young people will benefit from a planned programme of activities to help them make curriculum choices that are right for them and to develop the personal resources and readiness that will enable them to manage their careers throughout their lives.

In particular we intend all our students to:

• Develop a broad understanding of their education training, employment and other progression opportunities,
• Develop the skills they need to plan and manage their own personal development and careers progression,
• Make and maintain individual progress plans to help them improve their prospects of success,

We are continuing to work towards the Gatsby Benchmarks

We recognise that the process of making career decisions is a lengthy one and that most of our students will make their final choices only after completing their higher education course.

Schools have a statutory duty to secure independent and impartial careers guidance for pupils in Years 8-13 (Statutory Guidance, DfE, March 2015, Education Act, DfE, 2011) and although careers education is no longer a legal requirement we wish to continue to make provision in this area. Our policy is also framed to help us prepare for Raising the Participation Age (RPA) and to benefit our Pupil Premium students.

We believe that meeting the needs of the young person should be at the centre of all CEIAG provision, policy and practice within schools, colleges and independent learning providers. This is based on the principle that high quality CEIAG promotes individual aspiration as well as having the ability to contribute significantly to enhanced motivation and improved educational outcomes for young people.

Where the needs of the individual young person are best served by transferring to another institution at 14 or 16 we agree that we will ensure that the young person has access to the best possible CEIAG. We commit to ensuring that our actions and behaviours in relation to CEIAG will be guided by the best interests of the young person rather than that of the institution.

We commit to supporting young people, including from disadvantaged backgrounds, to gain access to opportunities and information that otherwise might have been denied to them, encouraging them to think critically beyond their own ideas and aspirations.

Student Voice and Parental Feedback

During the course of the year students will be asked about the quality of the materials delivered and the relevance to them at the relevant points within their school career.  Parents will be ask to complete a short questionnaire asking for their views on the current provision and any further support needed.

Staff/Careers advisor feedback

The careers team meet at the end of the academic year to discuss student/staff/employer feedback and to plan amendments/improvements to the CEIAG programme.

We review the curriculum bi-annually (September 2025)

We review work experience each year and this year (2025/26) year 7 will be completing a day to work and year 10 will complete 4 days experience of the workplace from 28th April 2026.

Website content is due for review in October 2025 by Mr Marshall