Higher Education & Careers

Click here for the 2023 UCAS information evening materials

Preparing for your future

The Careers Department at Comberton Sixth Form gives individual support to students to enable them to make informed choices on the complex university and other tertiary education options, professional and vocational qualifications, and the range of future career options and routes. We aim to equip our students to make the decisions and plans that are right for them, and move on to fulfilling working lives.

We also provide our students with a variety of sources of independent careers advice, by inviting employers, alumni and parents into school to give talks and take part in careers fairs and other events. The current landscape of post-18 education, employment and apprenticeship options is complex, with long term implications. Students are helped to make their own decisions as objectively as possible, but they are not influenced in their choices, or provided with any financial advice.

There is a well-stocked Careers section within the college Library and students are able to use Unifrog, a careers planning programme, to help them consider all of their post-18 and career options.  

Mrs Lawson circulates a weekly update of key information and current opportunities via email and students can access the careers padlet here: Careers Padlet

There is a programme of university and careers education and events, with visiting employers alongside university and college speakers. We are developing professional and academic-interest student-led societies (Law, Medicine, Engineering, Global Development, etc), as well as encouraging students to undertake other extension activities which enhance their university and employment applications.  This is particularly important for applications to competitive universities. Students are also encouraged to understand and develop professional and vocational skills and qualities, such as self-development and management, growth mindset, presentation and public speaking, leadership, team working, negotiation, customer service and entrepreneurialism.

Students are also strongly encouraged to undertake further periods of course and career-linked work experience, volunteering, part time employment and enterprise, both during term time by agreement and in the holidays.  Application support for this is available in the Careers Office.

Students receive individual support with completing employment, school leaver and apprenticeship applications. This includes help with CVs and online application forms, understanding how these are screened and recruitment criteria generally, mock assessment centres and interviews, and school references for employment.

For further information contact Mrs Fay Lawson - Careers Lead on 01223 262503 or email careers@combertonvc.org 

Our Comberton Village College Website provides further details of our provision from Year 7 through to Year 13 and can be accessed using: https://www.combertonvc.org/parent-and-student-information/careers-information.php

The school’s live feed on careers, HE and employability is available on Twitter: @CVC_Careers

If you are an employer, course/apprenticeship provider or interested in finding out how to build links with Comberton Sixth Form, please do contact us at 01223 262503 or email careers@combertonvc.org

 

Applying to university

The large majority of our students will continue on to higher education. We help students at every stage of the UCAS process from arranging visits to universities, selecting courses and writing personal statements.

Stephen Leggott, Deputy Head of Sixth Form and Higher Education Tutor, can be contacted at sleggott@combertonvc.org

Students applying to early entry courses, including Oxbridge, are able to access specific support from Laura Peacey, our Deputy Head who oversees Most Able & Talented. Mrs Peacey keeps students up to date with relavent opportunities through the MAT and Early Entry padlet available here: MAT & Early Entry Padlet. Mrs Peacey can be reached at lpeacey@combertonvc.org 

Support for those planning on applying to university begins at the start of Year 12 and follows a comprehensive support programme, details of which can be found below:

• Higher Education Calendar

 

Monitoring Provision

The school’s CEIAG provision is benchmarked against current best practice and legislation, and monitored using student/parent and other feedback, along with our destinations data. We currently follow statutory guidance and use the eight benchmarks in the Gatsby Foundation Report on Good Career Guidance.

We aim to do everything we can to inspire and encourage each of our students to realise their full potential and have happy and successful working lives.