Your guide to buying CIAG services from

Birmingham Careers Service

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Why choose Birmingham Careers Service?

Birmingham Careers Service is the perfect local choice for schools, academies and colleges wanting the best for their students. We are the local and long-established specialist provider of face-to-face careers guidance, and our not-for-profit service lets us give you the highest quality and best value for money.

Buying our flexible value-added service ensures you will be meeting your statutory responsibilities to provide independent, impartial careers information, advice and guidance for your students from Year 7 upwards under the Education Act 2011 and the Government Careers Strategy requirements.

Our Advisers are all experienced professionals: they are qualified to a minimum of QCF Level 6 in Career Guidance and Development, have enhanced DBS clearance and benefit from continuous professional development.

We work closely with employers, training providers, FE Colleges, HE institutions and voluntary sector organisations and use local knowledge to help students make informed decisions about their next steps.

We have unrivalled experience of the local situation and are uniquely located with Birmingham City Council giving us access to current, high quality local and national labour market information including – progression pathways, labour market trends and future skills needed – which we share with our traded partners.

We have rigorous quality control measures relating to careers information, advice and guidance delivery. We are CDI Affiliated members. The quality of our Advisers’ delivery is regularly monitored and assessed. We conduct student evaluations about the CIAG services we deliver.

We are the chosen provider for a diverse range of schools and colleges across Birmingham, Solihull and Sandwell including: special schools, 11-16 academies and maintained school; 11-18 academies and maintained schools, colleges and alternative provision. The majority of these have retained our service for many years.

Our delivery for students attending academies and schools in Birmingham is recorded using the local authority’s destination and tracking database: this reports directly to the DfE. Traded partners that choose one of our tracking activities are not required to supply September Guarantee or Annual Participation Survey returns to the local authority as our Advisers record this information for their students.

Delivery highlights from 2022/23 academic year

1

students across years 8 to 13 receiving a one to one personal careers guidance interview. All students issued with an individual careers Action Plan.

1

group sessions delivered, on a range of topics including option choices, employability skills and applications.

1

special events delivered including mock interviews, career fairs, parent/carers evenings and coffee mornings

1

exam results sessions delivered in schools

The Gatsby Benchmarks

The Eight Gatsby Benchmarks Of Good Career Guidance Are:​

01

Every student should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a Careers Adviser, who could be internal (a member of school staff) or external, provided they are trained to an appropriate level. These should be available whenever significant study or career choices are being made. 

02

Every student, and their parents, should have access to good quality information about future study options and labour market opportunities. They will need the support of an informed adviser to make best use of available information.

03

Students have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to the needs of each pupil. A school’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout.

04

All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. For example, STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths.

05

Every student should have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace. This can be through a range of enrichment activities, including visiting speakers, mentoring and enterprise schemes.

06

Every student should have first-hand experiences of the workplace through work visits, work shadowing and/or work experience to help their exploration of career opportunities, and expand their networks.

07

All students should understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. This includes both academic and vocational routes and learning in schools, colleges, universities and in the workplace.

08

Every student should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a Careers Adviser, who could be internal (a member of school staff) or external, provided they are trained to an appropriate level. These should be available whenever significant study or career choices are being made. 

Our Activities

Available to purchase as part of a package or standalone

Personal careers guidance interviews, including a full action plan

8, 3, 2, 1

A maximum of 8 interviews per day, depending on need

Small Post-16 or Post-18 options groups with a generic career plan

8, 3, 2, 1

Up to 4 x 1 hour sessions per day for a maximum of 10/12 students per session

Groupwork or presentations – choose from a wide range of topics

Post-16 Options • Post-18 Options • Higher Education • STEM careers | Apprenticeships • T Levels • Labour Market Information • Employability Skills • CV Production • Decision making

7, 5, 3, 2, 1

Up to 4 sessions per day (30 students) Assembly – whole year group (0.5 day)

Work with parents/carers:

Attend Parents’ Evenings • Attend Year 9 Options Evenings • Coffee Mornings (SEND) • Transition Presentations (SEND)

1

0.5 day

Drop-in sessions at lunchtime/end of the school day

8, 3, 2, 1

30 – 60 minutes (replace 1 or 2 interview slots)

Careers Fair​

1, 3, 5, 7

0.5 to 1 day depending on scale and nature, plus preparation time

Mock Interviews

2, 5, 7

1 day, plus preparation time

Transition support for young people with SEND or who are (or at risk of becoming) disengaged

8,7,3,2,1

Average 2 days per student but will be tailored to individual needs

Tracking And Follow-Up Support, Including A Year 11 Leaver Destinations Report

Only available alongside the delivery of a substantial service for Year 11.

8,3,2,1

At least 5 days required after GCSE results day, including attendance at results day.

Tracking And Follow-Up Support, Including A Year 11 Leaver Destinations Report. Available as a stand alone activity.

Ongoing intensive follow up and tracking support of Year 11 students. Monthly activity during term-time, ongoing intensive support during the summer holiday, attendance at GCSE results day and bespoke graphical destination report.

8,3,2,1

14 days per cohort of up to 200, including 5 days during the summer holiday

What else do I need to know?

How can I use the days purchased?

You can pick and choose whatever careers activities you want, tailored to suit the needs of your students. We can deliver as many days as you need. For example, just 1 day to work with targeted students or as much as 1 day per week for the whole academic year to work across your cohorts.

Do I have to plan in advance how to use my days?

No – if you don’t have a definite plan that is fine, our service isn’t one size fits all. We work with you to design and deliver what you want, when you want it. You can decide as the year progesses, if that is a better way for you to plan your career guidance activities. Of course you can add more days later in the year if your needs turn out to be greater.

I’m not sure what our needs will be?

Not a problem – talk to us! We are very experienced in working with all types of learning providers and can help you plan and develop how our service can best meet your needs.

Feedback from our traded partners

Keystage 4 Pupil
Keystage 4 PupilMainstream School in Solihull
‘Very interesting and helpful. I was confused but I feel a lot clearer now’
Keystage 4 Pupil
Keystage 4 PupilMainstream School in Solihull
‘Very interesting and helpful. I was confused but I feel a lot clearer now’
Keystage 4 Pupil
Keystage 4 PupilMainstream School in Birmingham
‘Andrea got me thinking about my career journey and the importance of planning early'
Keystage 4 Pupil
Keystage 4 PupilMainstream School in Solihull
‘I found looking at the different options for further education and how to achieve them to be very useful. Also the different ways to improve your application such as work experience’
Keystage 5 Pupil
Keystage 5 PupilSpecialist Academy in Birmingham
‘I thought that the wide range of topics we covered was really helpful and the questions she asked helped to stimulate my thought plan’
Keystage 4 Pupil
Keystage 4 PupilMainstream School in Solihull
‘I have enjoyed the interview; I was able to ask lots of questions and find out lots of useful information’
Keystage 4 Pupil
Keystage 4 PupilMainstream School in Solihull
‘Helen was extremely helpful as she was listening to what I had to say. She also guided me to other career options and increased my knowledge on what routes I can go through’
Keystage 3 Pupil
Keystage 3 PupilGrammar School in Birmingham
‘Quite easy to talk too, large knowledge of careers, really friendly too’
Keystage 4 Pupil
Keystage 4 PupilSpecial School in Birmingham
‘Today I saw Jane my careers advisor who discussed my career options I want to do beauty and I am worried about going to certain colleges and I explored other colleges further afield like Halesowen and I am happy I have spoken to Jane today’
Keystage 4 Pupil
Keystage 4 PupilMainstream School in Sandwell
‘Before coming here I was a bit more closed about what I wanted to do and now she's opened my mind and made me think more’
Keystage 4 Pupil
Keystage 4 PupilSpecial School in Birmingham
'What I found helpful is she was easy to talk to and gave me great ideas for my future job'
SENCO
SENCO Special School
“The personal guidance interviews delivered by the BCS Careers Adviser have been excellent. The pupils engaged well and her gentle demeanour contributed to this! Even those who find it difficult to communicate with new people, communicated well with her. The Careers Adviser used great strategies, such as flashcards, to help them engage and express their future career idea. One of our pupils has a stammer, the Adviser gave him the time and space to communicate, without answering questions for him! Many of our pupils are asking when they can see the Careers Adviser again!”
Director of Careers Education
Director of Careers Education11 – 19 Academy
“I am very happy with the service I have received from the Careers Advisers coming into my school. Skilled and knowledgeable, they have worked with individual students as well as with small groups of students and have supported at our parents events all in an extremely professional manner. This has helped us to achieve Gatsby 3 and 8! I am delighted to recommission the service next year”.
Assistant Headteacher
Assistant Headteacher11-16 Maintained School
“A truly invaluable service. The Careers Advisers have a wealth of knowledge and are flexible to fit in with our needs as a school. They are approachable and friendly and our student feedback year on year is overwhelmingly positive. This will be our seventh year with Birmingham Careers Service and we know we will be receiving an excellent standard of advice and guidance, and that our students are in safe hands”.
IAG Manager
IAG Manager11 – 16 Academy
“A massive thank you for your support again this year – I don’t know what we would do without you! The feedback we have received from our learners has been excellent. They really appreciated the support and guidance you provide”.
Careers Lead
Careers LeadSpecial School
“The Birmingham Careers Service adviser is an intrinsic member of the careers team at our school. Their ongoing work with our pupils who can be quite challenging is highly valued and long may it continue.”

get in touch

If you have any queries, would like to find out more about our services, or want to discuss any other requirements, please contact:

Sian Powell
sian.powell@birmingham.gov.uk
Helen Richards
helen.a.richards@birmingham.gov.uk