Apprenticeship

Over the last five years, the development of the Apprenticeship Pathway is the most significant development in student choice post Year 13. Higher level and degree apprenticeships in all disciplines are providing an increasingly attractive offer to all students.  JMF6-Abingdon has been ground breaking in the individualised programmes that if offers students to support this pathway. A key part of this progression from A Levels is compromise.   Unlike university applications where  grades carry the majority of the weight, your grades when applying for an apprenticeship can raise an employer's interest but it's your knowledge and experience in your chosen sector that will carry the majority of weight. For this reason you should consider any opportunities that can be used to evidence your interest; work experience, voluntary work, temporary work, anything.

The links below should be the first point of call in embarking on the research that will open your eyes to this new and dynamic route.

Adviza is the company I work for, we have many contracts in schools all over Oxfordshire to deliver careers guidance. The subheading "Careers info for young people" is probably the most useful for the majority of students.

eclips is a careers website that has no advertised vacancies, but does offer a wealth of advice and guidance. In my opinion it's the best careers website on the market. I often use it when I am asked a careers question and don't know the answer. The school have to pay for this website, however you only need to enter the login code: JMason2017

UCAS, although know for degree courses, also advertises apprenticeships.

GOV.UK was set up by the government for all sectors to advertise their vacancies in one place, unfortunately it's only used by approximately 30% of companies. However, it's still a good place to look for apprenticeships.

The NHS is the largest employer in the country with a variety of apprenticeships. A tip when searching, use the term apprentice, drop the "ship".

Not Going to Uni is a good site for higher and degree apprenticeships.

CV advice can be found on most average websites, but I would recommend getting advice from eclips. Whenever I am asked to write a CV, I look on elips for the job description, borrow the key words and phrases from the page, and feed them back into the CV I am writing. When applying for creative opportunities I personally like creative CVs, there lots of good example images of them on google.

Speculative Applications are something you need to consider doing because some companies don't advertise their opportunities and you have to approach them. How do you find them? Yell.com is an online directory so it is good to use if you know the type of employer that you're looking for. You can send them a polite email and attach your CV.