Careers Information, Post-16 Advice and Guidance

This page contains information for students, teachers, parents and employers. More information including on our Careers and Fair Provider Access Policy as well as other helpful documents are attached to this page, or available on request. This includes a labour market information document offering helpful information about work and skills in Cambridgeshire. This may help parents and students to see what job opportunities are available in this area.

It is never too early to start to think about what you want to do after you leave Melbourn Village College. Parents and carers of all Year 11 students were invited to attend our Post-16 Information Evening at the end of September. This includes a presentation on the Post-16 Application process followed by a chance to talk to representatives from our local sixth form colleges.

Please see the “CAP Information Evening” presentation below:

The school also helps students to pursue CV-building activities, such as participating in sports leadership, enrichment, Duke of Edinburgh and character development activities, and also specific career-linked activities such as student reporting, STEM club, etc. Employer-links, alumni networking and mentoring are being developed.

Our work is benchmarked against the national and international standards for school careers provision. We offer independent individual careers support, advice and guidance to all KS4 students in receipt of the student premium and to other students as far as possible, with the belief that every individual matters equally, and should receive equal access to provision.

Progression Beyond School

Of those who leave MVC at 16, almost all transfer to other educational institutions, while a few take apprenticeships.

Career Guidance

MVC provides all students in Years 7-11 with access to career guidance sessions on request, and by staff and parent referral. This is all high quality, impartial and independent careers advice. Impartial advice is provided by a level 6 qualified external careers advisor, our teaching and other staff. We apply a coaching or mentoring approach. Students make their own decisions, and are encouraged to develop personal career plans.

Our students are also encouraged to have high aspirations, to aim for excellence, and to consider the broadest range of career areas and appropriate educational and personal development routes.  For some students, this will mean encouragement and mentoring for applications to the most selective universities. For others, it will mean similar encouragement and mentoring for a directly career-related or talent-related path. 

Below are some further useful resources to help you find the right path for you:

• National Careers Service
• First Careers
• Springpod
• Careers Box
• GOV.uk – Apprenticeships
• U-explore
• Icould
• Not going to Uni
• UCAS
• Keep your Head
• Kooth
• SACU
• MyChoice@16

If you need more advice or information in school you can contact:

• Head of Years and Form Tutors
• Career Leader: Mr E Willder, Assistant Principal – Post 16 Transition (ewillder@melbournvc.org, tel: 01763 223400)

We measure and assess our careers programme termly against the Gatsby Benchmarks. For a number of our key events, we also survey students to ensure we have feedback from them about the event and how it can be improved. Our careers information is reviewed annually.

Parental Guidance

Sometimes you struggle to decide what you would like to do once you have left school. At Melbourn Village College, we want to ensure that your child chooses the correct career path for them, whether it would be an Apprenticeship, University or heading straight into a job.

Click here to view a parents guide on careers.

Work Experience

Work experience takes place in July. Examples of work experience placement forms and information leaflet are available to download from the left hand menu.

Everybody is somebody