The Careers Department, led by Head of Careers, Mrs Louise Rapple Moore, is in the Marjorie White Building and is packed with posters, brochures, prospectuses and all kinds of careers information.
Pupils are introduced to the department in Year 7 when they are registered with Unifrog during a PSHEE lesson, which pupils will use as they move through the school. In Year 7, 8 and 9 Careers is delivered during PSHEE lessons, when pupils take personality, skills and workplace quizzes, relating their results to possible future careers, and undertake research into the multitude of different career paths available to them.
In Year 10 pupils have a talk about the careers programme in one of their PSHEE periods with the Head of Careers. They also have the opportunity to undertake a Careers Profiling session with external companies SPW Careers and MyFutureChoice. Both involve a comprehensive profiling questionnaire, producing a detailed report and including an interview with an external careers guidance professional.
In Year 11, Mrs Rapple Moore attends pupils’ PSHEE lessons in the spring term and leads a lesson looking at all the options available to pupils in the future. In addition, all Year 11 pupils have a one-to-one interview with a member of the senior staff about their thoughts and plans for the future, so that we can make sure that they are on the right track with their sixth-form choices. There is also an annual trip to the School Leavers' Fair at Ascot, which provides options for careers and apprenticeships, as well as universities.
Throughout the sixth form, pupils receive a comprehensive careers education to help them make the right decisions about their future and to guide them through the various application processes required for university, apprenticeships and the workplace. In Year 12, pupils attend a weekly careers lesson throughout the spring and summer terms, giving them a wealth of information about all the options available to them after leaving school. The department has lots of up-to-the-minute literature and information on universities and colleges, apprenticeships, training schemes, gap years, careers in the Armed Forces and much more. They spend time writing a CV and personal statement, undertake various workplace and personality tests and look at how to make their choices. Futures Week in March involves a day of visiting speakers about everything from careers in business or law to a speed networking session with professionals from a wide variety of career areas. The Oxbridge programme also begins for Year 12 pupils in the spring term and this includes a visit to an Oxford College. Pupils are offered a week of Work Experience during Activities Week at the end of Year 12.
The autumn term of Year 13 is spent helping pupils applying to university with their applications. In the spring term, Mrs Rapple Moore runs a series of lessons for Year 13 pupils wishing to apply for jobs and apprenticeships, helping with application forms and making sure all pupils have a strong CV.
The Gatsby Benchmarks are a framework for careers guidance in schools. Our careers programme fulfils all eight Gatsby benchmarks, from personal guidance and addressing the needs of each pupil to encounters with higher education, employers and employees, and experiences of workplaces.
National Careers Week
National Careers Week takes place each year in March, and we mark it with a series of events. Teachers of all year groups are encouraged to spend time in each of their lessons talking about possible careers relating to their subject, and Year 12 have a day off-timetable with a series of talks and presentations from people in various industries, a chat with a selection of Old Vikings about what they are doing now, and a Speed Networking session. We also organise a visit to a local university.
Work Experience
Towards the end of the summer term, Year 12 undertake a week of Work Experience, where all Year 12 pupils spend a week working in the ‘real world’. We ask parents and/or pupils to organise this themselves but Mrs Rapple Moore is able to offer advice and tips on how to find work experience. This is an extremely valuable week for our pupils, many of whom may never have experienced a working environment or had to use public transport before. The work that the pupils experience may or may not be directly relevant to a chosen career, but it is always an invaluable experience of life in the workplace and the expectations of a working environment.
UCAS Applications
Over the summer holidays before Year 13, pupils are expected to work on their personal statements, returning with a good draft in September, which they can then re-work and improve with the help of their tutors. Year 13 Careers periods take place throughout the autumn term for those pupils completing a UCAS application, with the College’s final deadline for applications being early November. Pupils who are not applying to university, or who are still undecided about their futures, can then attend further Careers lessons in the spring term, concentrating on apprenticeships, job applications and CV-writing skills.
Leavers' Destinations 2024
Over 90% of our sixth form leavers progress to university, either directly or after having taken a Gap Year. The remaining pupils take up an internship or apprenticeship, or go straight into employment.
A wide range of courses chosen in 2024 reflect the ambitions, passions and pathways of our leavers and included Dentistry, Physics, Medicine, Economics, Mechanical Engineering, Accounting, History, Marketing, Liberal Arts, Psychology, Biological Sciences, Drama and Creative Writing, Business Management, Sociology and Philosophy, Architecture, Criminology, Midwifery, Law and Politics, Sports Science and Geography.
Recent cohorts have demonstrated the strength of Shiplake’s careers provision. In 2024, 91% of our university applicants gained entry to their first or second choice of university. In recent years, the number of pupils gaining places at top-third universities has been rising steadily, and in 2024 62% of university applicants progressed to one of the top 40 universities in the Complete University Guide league table (52% in 2023). 12% of pupils got into universities ranked in the top ten in the country including Durham, Loughborough and Bath and 35% of pupils were offered places at Russell Group universities (up from 26% in 2022).
The most popular UK universities in 2024 were Nottingham Trent, York, Exeter, Cardiff, Nottingham, Oxford Brookes, Swansea, Bristol, Lancaster, Glasgow, Newcastle, Loughborough, Reading and Royal Holloway. One pupil gained a place at Harvard University and over the past few years Shiplake pupils have also attended Oxford, Cambridge, Yale and Princeton.
