Careers
Promoting a career development culture is an essential part of the vision and values of Beacon Academy. We aim to support the aspirations of all our learners and to ensure that they gain the understanding, skills and experience they need to make progress and succeed in learning and work.
We believe that effective careers education and guidance not only contributes to the well-being of individuals but also to the wellbeing of their families, the communities to which they belong, wider society, businesses and the economy.
Our Careers Team
Careers Programme and Support
Beacon Academy has a high-quality Careers Education Information Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) programme for all students in Years 7- 13, which aims to raise the aspirations of all students whilst being tailored to individual needs. The programme will inform students of the range of opportunities available to them, encouraging them to aim higher and make choices relevant to what they feel they can achieve.
- Discreet lessons taught via the KS3 Personal Development curriculum
- Career of the Week weekly tutor resource for all of KS3 and KS4
- Comprehensive mentoring and leadership programme
- Year 9 Options taster sessions/days to support with career choices
- Opportunities to engage with a range of local businesses, apprenticeship and training providers (provider access statement link)
- Participation in the Open Doors programme via East Sussex Careers
- CV and cover letter writing and mock interviews
- Life in the workplace advice and guidance
- Understanding the job seeking process
- Economical and work/life balance awareness sessions
- Careers Fairs, UCAS support and employer taster days
- Cross curricular careers links in subjects
- Year 12 and 13 there is a full support programme including guidance through the UCAS process with our Careers Advisor and UCAS staff and well as guidance and support into higher education, apprenticeships, training and employment via our Careers Advisor.
- From Year 8 through to Year 13 we provide independent and impartial careers guidance with the option to self-refer, or parent/carer referral for careers interviews
For further detail on our Careers Programme in the Sixth Form please click here.
Programme Review and Measuring Impact
Our careers provision is assessed three times per year alongside the Local Authority with a focus on the eight Gatsby Benchmarks. In addition, regular feedback from our key stakeholders is used to contribute to the ongoing review and development of our careers programme to ensure it meets the needs of all students.
Please see our Careers Education Programme overview below.
Throughout the year our students have a number of opportunities to engage in activities to further support their careers pathway and choices. These include:
- Trips to Parliament
- Alumni and guest speaker visits
- Special Effects workshop
- Author Visits
- UCAS/Apprenticeship/Careers Day (Yr 13)
- Careers Fair
- University visits
- UCAS convention
- Open Doors visits
Beacon Academy is committed to providing all students with the opportunity to take part in Work Experience by the age of 16, additional to any part-time jobs they may have. This takes place when students are in Year 11 and Year 12-13. Work Experience opportunities take place throughout the year for subjects with a work experience element to them and for students in years 12-13 who take vocational courses.
From artists and filmmakers to scientists, engineers and geologists, Beacon alumni inspire our school community with their achievements and words of advice.
Visit our Alumni page to find out more about our alumni network and discover some of our former students’ career stories.
We have provided some useful weblinks below for where you can find some additional advice and guidance.
Helping young people make education and career choices Helping young people make education and career choices | National Careers Service
Post 16 options Post 16 options | National Careers Service
Post 18 options Post 18 options | National Careers Service
Getting a job Careers advice | National Careers Service
How2Become - UK's Leading Career, Recruitment & Educational Specialist
Beacon Academy believes in giving FE, HE, and training providers the opportunity to talk to students at the school. Please see our Provider Access Statement to see more information.
We engage with local employers, businesses and professional networks, inviting visiting speakers, to inspire our students, particularly alumni with whom students can relate to. We organise activities such as careers talks and fairs, transition skills sessions, CV writing workshops, mock interviews and employability workshops.
If you are interested in supporting our students as part of our career programme, please contact Miss Waterhouse in the first instance:
