Careers Advice & Guidance

Careers and Destinations

Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School holds the Investors in Careers quality award and has been identified as ‘’the leading school in Britain for the quality of its careers programme’’ (The Key for School Leaders).  We were one of the first three schools in the country to achieve all of the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks (State of the Nation report), and our careers programme ensures that students ‘’have their education or training futures organised’’ (Ofsted).

Our Offer

Our school has enjoyed ongoing success in relation to students’ destinations year on year. Our careers programme has been developed to support all students to raise their aspirations and be successful in their ambitions. The success of this programme is reflected in our consistently varied and accomplished range of student destinations. The programme is updated annually.

Throughout Years 12 and 13 students have access to individualised support from our University and Careers Education Lead.  Our Year 12 tutorial programme provides comprehensive support for students, providing expert sessions on the university application process, pursuing a degree apprenticeship and gap year options. 

Our Careers Fair, ‘Future Evening’ and ‘Finance Evening’, run by recruitment specialists and admissions tutors, ensure that our students understand their progression routes, the benefits of networking and how to manage money.

As part of our ‘Future Evening’ in Year 12, all students are provided with our ‘Find Your Future’ document, providing detailed advice and guidance on a diverse range of exciting post-18 options.

Personal statement clinics and mock interview panels enable our students to benefit from being part of a school where ‘’comprehensive support for university applications is a strength’’ (Ofsted).

View our full careers programme for the Sixth Form HERE

Read our CEIAG and Provider Access Policy HERE

Please also find links to our *Find Your Future* and *Find Your Future SEND* documents.

UCAS Application Process

On average, over 80% of our students go on to university each year and our university preparation programme is designed with this in mind. Sixth form students receive consistent support throughout the application process and our ‘Pathways’ programme is specifically tailored to help students with the vision and ambition to apply to specialised or competitive courses to achieve their goals.

Find out more about our Pathway Programmes HERE

Students are fully supported during the whole process of choosing their course, finalising their 5 choices of university, completing their application and personal statement as well as being fully prepared for portfolio submission and interviews, as appropriate.

As a result, in the last application cycle, just over 71% of applications made to a Russell Group university course resulted in a successful offer.  Our success in Oxbridge applications was more than twice the national average, and our students applying to increasingly competitive Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary courses had a success rate of almost 10% more than the national average.

Other students have gone on to study more vocational pathways, embarking on university courses in fields such as education, law, healthcare, and engineering, whilst those wishing to pursue a more creative pathway have recently gone on to study courses in architecture, musical theatre, and digital film production. Whatever their interest or ambition, our careers and higher education programme is designed to support and inspire every student to excel in their chosen field.

Please also find links to our 'Where Can My Subjects Take Me?' and 'Am I Eligible for a Contextual Offer?' documents.

All students are entitled to and will receive:

• A comprehensive programme of CEIAG delivered through tutorials, workshops, assemblies, Personal Development lessons, enrichment, curriculum alignment, and stand-alone events.
• Access to independent and impartial information and guidance on the full range of careers, education, and training options available.
• The opportunity to take part in meaningful encounters with a broad range of employers and education and training providers.
• Information and guidance to enable them to manage and plan each key transition stage effectively.
• CEIAG support that addresses their individual needs, with particular attention paid to SEND pupils, those in receipt of Pupil Premium funding, and pupils in other vulnerable groups.

KS5 Entitlement Document

The Gatsby Benchmarks

The objectives of our Careers programme are mapped against the Gatsby Foundation Benchmarks of Good Careers Guidance and are as follows:

1. To ensure that all students at the Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School receive a stable careers programme.
2. To enable all students to learn from up-to-date information provided by the career and labour market.
3. To provide a CEIAG programme that addresses the needs of each individual student.
4. To link the curriculum learning to careers learning.
5. To provide students with a series of meaningful encounters with employers and employees.
6. To provide students with experience(s) of workplace(s).
7. To ensure that students have a series of encounters with further and higher education.
8. To provide each student with the opportunity to receive independent personal guidance.

Find out more about how we are meeting the Gatsby Benchmarks HERE

Impact Measurement & Evaluation

At Simon Langton Girls’ Grammar School, we believe it is important to assess the impact of our careers programme on our students. We continually measure and evaluate the impact of our careers programme and the degree to which it fulfils our Student CEIAG Entitlement in a number of ways.

• A strategic programme of feedback, monitoring and assessment is in place and compiled data is used in our annual review of the student entitlement objectives and aims of the CEIAG programme with a focus on learning outcomes for pupils. 
• We collect and evaluate feedback from multiple stakeholders including students, staff, parents, and providers.
• Student learning outcomes are evaluated using the Future Skills Questionnaire from the Careers & Enterprise Company, designed to measure career knowledge and the readiness of students at points of transition across their secondary education.
• The Compass+ evaluation tool is used triennially to assess the success of the programme in relation to the eight Gatsby Benchmarks. This data is used in strategic evaluation and planning.
• With reference to our destinations data for Year 11 and Year 13 in comparison to national and equivalent figures, we measure the impact of the programme student outcomes.

Further information about the Careers Programme and its learning objectives can be found using the links on the right.

Our University and Career Education Lead is Sophie Cavey.

Contact information: Telephone: 01227 463711. Email: scavey@langton.kent.sch.uk