Careers

At Bridge, our aim is to help learners transition from training into positive destinations and outcomes. We encourage our learners to set aspirational career goals, and our teachers, classroom staff, and resident careers adviser are dedicated to supporting them in acquiring the skills needed to achieve these goals. We recognize that each student may have unique future aspirations, which is why we provide impartial, tailored career guidance from a fully qualified Level 6 adviser. This ensures learners are fully aware of the opportunities available to them and the steps they need to take to access those opportunities. Our goal is to empower learners, helping them feel confident in conducting their own research and applications, rather than relying on others to do it for them.  

Work placements

We strongly encourage students who are able to undertake work placements to explore real-world job experiences. We also recognize that virtual work experiences offer valuable opportunities, whether as a way to gain insights into hard-to-reach industries or as a confidence booster before engaging in traditional placements. We regularly highlight virtual opportunities, which can be completed flexibly, in students’ own time, to complement their studies.

As we are not a “one size fits all” provider, we don’t have a set work experience week. Students are encouraged to consult with their tutor to ensure their preferred placement dates do not conflict with the curriculum before submitting an application via the Unifrog careers platform. Both employers and students’ parents or carers are required to complete information and permission forms before we can review and approve the placement.

While we encourage students to be proactive in sourcing their own placements, we are here to support those who face challenges in doing so.

We are particularly keen to collaborate with employers in our core vocational areas – hair, beauty, and health & social care – but we are also looking to expand these opportunities. Many of our art and photography students are interested in creative careers, and a significant number of our learners are studying English and Maths with plans to pursue a wider range of industries. If your company is interested in supporting the future workforce, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Louisa Phoenix to discuss potential opportunities.

Unifrog

Unifrog is a universal careers platform offering information on a range of careers and opportunities for young people. Learners can take quizzes, explore their interests, attend online webinars, undertake courses and research apprenticeship and education opportunities all in one place. We also manage learner’s work placements through Unifrog. If you are a parent/carer and would like a free account, please contact our Careers Lead Louisa Phoenix.

Working with Secondary Schools:

The government states that “all students should understand the full range of learning opportunities available to them. This includes both technical and academic routes, as well as learning in schools, colleges, universities, and the workplace.”

Additionally, students should have “meaningful encounters with a range of providers of learning and training that may form the next stage of their career,” including contact with independent training providers in the county.

We are committed to supporting schools in meeting the Provider Access Legislation (PAL) requirements and achieving Gatsby Benchmark 7 (Encounters with Further and Higher Education), which includes engagement with Independent Training Providers.

To support this, we offer assemblies or tutorials that include the following:

  • Information about Bridge Training and the approved qualifications we offer
  • Details about the careers these qualifications can lead to
  • An overview of what learning and training at Bridge is like
  • Opportunities for students to ask questions about Bridge and the qualifications we provide

If you would like us to visit your school to discuss our offerings at Bridge Training Ltd or to participate in a careers fair, please contact Marcus Ridler.

Bridge and the Gatsby Benchmarks

The Gatsby Benchmarks is a nationally recognised framework of quality standards related to Careers Education that the Department of Education expects all schools and colleges to use to plan and deliver consistent and high quality careers advice and guidance across the setting. They instruct Ofsted to carry out inspections of careers in these settings using the benchmarks.

We use this framework to plan and run our careers programme and measure the impact of it.

 

There are 8 Gatsby Benchmarks:
  1. A stable careers programme
  2. Learning from career and labour market information
  3. Addressing the needs of each pupil
  4. Linking curriculum learning to careers
  5. Encounters with employers and employees
  6. Experiences of workplaces
  7. Encounters with further and higher education
  8. Personal guidance

We are always delighted to welcome visiting speakers to enhance our careers programme. If you are interested in visiting Bridge to inspire and enthuse young people about your industry, please contact our Careers Lead Louisa Phoenix. alternatively please call our office on 01452411112.