At Oldbury Academy, we strive to ensure that all our students have access to quality careers education that raises the aspirations of each individual. Our vision is that by the time our students leave us they have the knowledge, skills and experience to make informed decisions about their future choices in the workplace, further education or training.
We currently hold the Quality in Careers Standard which is the national quality award for careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) in schools. It is fully aligned with the eight Gatsby Benchmarks for ‘Good Career Guidance’ and fully complies with the Department for Education’s statutory guidance. We are constantly looking to improve our provision and as an Academy; we use the compass tool to assess and improve our work towards the Gatsby Benchmarks of best practice and will continue to develop our CEIAG to help us meet all of the Gatsby Benchmarks by 2020.
- Alumni
- Careers Policy
- Destinations
- Information for Parents and Carers
- Information for Students
- Labour Market Information
- Measuring Impact
- Providers Access Statement
- Work Experience
We are keen to build our alumni network; this is extremely valuable for giving our students encounters with employers and employees (Benchmark 5).
If you can support the Academy’s careers provision by:
- coming in and giving a talk/run a workshop about your job role/business
- accommodating a visit (approx. 15 students) to your place of work
- giving a year 10 student a work experience placement
- giving an assembly about your job role/business
- sharing information about your job role/business
Student Entitlements to Careers Education are set out in a newly updated Careers Policy. 
to download our Careers Policy. There is a planned programme of Careers Education providing opportunities to develop and apply the knowledge, understanding and skills necessary to make realistic career decisions.
At Oldbury Academy, we assess our success in supporting students and raising their aspirations (Benchmark 3) through them progressing to positive destinations after they leave us. For example, this may be further education, employment or training which offers them good long-term prospects. It is fantastic to see where our students progress onto after their time at OA. If you do require any support to help you get to your intended destination please contact a member of our careers team. Staff will also be on hand to support students on GCSE results day. We believe a successful careers programme is reflected in a high number of students progressing to positive destinations. You can see here comparable information which shows the % of pupils in education, apprenticeship or employment for at least two terms after leaving Oldbury Academy compared to others in Sandwell and England.
Please follow this link to see our published destinations in the performance tables.
https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/137701/oldbury-academy
For parents and carers, the job of helping their children make the right career choices is not easy with such a fast-moving labour market and changes in qualifications. We have put together some information below which will help you.
- Career Map has prepared a special edition of Careermag for parents which contains a wealth of information. You can download and subscribe to this at no cost, simply go to careermap.co.uk to register. https://careermap.co.uk/
- PiXL Careers Document – For parents download here
- Apprenticeship Parents Pack July 2019 – Click Here
Our aim at Oldbury Academy is to ensure we deliver the very best careers education to all of our students. If you’re looking for more information on what you can do in the future you have come to the right place!
FAST TOMATO
All students in the Academy are encouraged to use Fast Tomato which is one of the most popular online career guidance programmes for young people.
Don’t Know Your Code? Please ask your form tutor or see Ms Walker. When you log in you will need to complete the questionnaire, which takes around 10 minutes, and this will help you explore the many different careers options open to you.
CAREER INTERVIEWS are provided at the Academy in partnership with Connexions, which supplements the impartial in-house advice delivered by the careers team. Our Connexions Adviser is Level 6 accredited for impartial careers information, advice and guidance.
Connexions also offer a drop in service – so no need to make an appointment, or, contact them:Sandwell_connexions@sandwell.gov.uk or call 0121 569 2955
You can find them at One Stop Shop, Oldbury Council House, Freeth Street, Oldbury, B69 3DB
Here you can get information, advice, guidance and support on:
- Exploring career and job ideas
- Choosing the right further and higher education courses
- Finding and applying for training, traineeships and apprenticeships
- Searching for employment opportunities
- Interview skills
- CV’s and applications
- Work experience
- Voluntary work
https://www.connexionssandwell.co.uk/
http://www.careerpilot.org.uk – gives help with choices at 14, 16 and 18, routes to different qualifications and job sectors. Career tools to help you decide.
http://www.icould.com – gives general careers advice and short careers film clips.
https://www.getmyfirstjob.co.uk – gives information and advertises a range of apprenticeships available.
http://www.tomorrowsengineers.org.uk – gives information on everything to do with engineering careers.
http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk – gives access to the national apprenticeships database and general information.
http://www.ucas.com – all university information and websites.
http://www.careersbox.co.uk – gives short careers film clips.
http://www.russellgroup.ac.uk – gives access to ’Informed Choices’ booklet which gives definitive information on GCSE and A-level subject choices.
https://amazingapprenticeships.com/live-broadcasts/ – Live Broadcasts about potential apprenticeship opportunities
https://findapprenticeshiptraining.sfa.bis.gov.uk/ – A brilliant search portal for all apprenticeships and you can search for all providers on here, as some national ones will deliver in Worcestershire
http://careersinspiration.co.uk/West-Midlands/West-Midlands-Job-Market/Black-Country Look at this information on careers in our local area.
www.amazingapprenticeships.com – Apprenticeships Explained.
https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/ – They provide information, advice and guidance to help you make decisions on learning, training and work.
https://practicereasoningtests.com/psychometric-tests/ – These are sample psychometric tests that employers and apprenticeship providers often use during the recruitment process.
https://practicereasoningtests.com/practice-aptitude-tests – These are sample psychometric tests that employers and apprenticeship providers often use during the recruitment process.
Where can studying take you…
Labour Market Information (LMI) is information about what is happening nationally, regionally and locally in the job market. It will tell you about trends for different types of jobs, the skills employers are looking for, progression routes and career paths and job and apprenticeship vacancies. To find out up to date, accurate and unbiased information to help you make choices please click here https://www.blackcountryskillsfactory.co.uk/school-resources/local-labour-market-intelligence/
Here is a guide for parents and students to explain more about Labour Market Information (LMI)
LMI guide for parents
Black Country LMI map
LMI map for Black Country
Detailed profile of LMI for Sandwell
Sandwell LMI map
Top 40 careers of the future
Careers of the future
To use the Careerometer to find the average salary of a range of jobs clock on the dotted square on each block below and type in your chosen career.
As an Academy we use Compass – the careers benchmark tool as outlined in the Gatsby benchmark to assess and improve our current CEIAG provision. Our progress against the Gatsby benchmarks will be reviewed regularly throughout the academic year to help us meet all of the 8 benchmarks by the end of 2020.
We will monitor the impact of our action plan and the CEIAG we deliver mainly through feedback from students and staff. All activities and policies will be reviewed in September 2019.
You can also view our Providers Access Statement here
Students in Year 10 will undertake one week of a work experience placement. Follow this link for more information on what support is available for Work Experience
Our Senior Leader who has strategic responsibility for careers is Ms Payne and she is supported by Ms Walker who is a teacher at the Academy; both are available to address any enquiries related to careers and guide students accordingly. If you have any work experience queries please contact Mr Brittle in the first instance. We also have a Connexions Adviser who is able to offer information, advice and guidance to support students.
If you would like to contribute to our careers programme or have any feedback on the programme we offer, please contact our Careers Leader.
Careers Leader: Ms S Walker
Telephone: 0121 533 370
Email: sara.walker@oldburyacademy.org.uk
Assistant Headteacher with strategic responsibility for careers: Mrs G Tillotson, Assistant Headteacher
Telephone: 0121 533 3750 ext 5036
Email: gemma.tillotson@oldburyacademy.org.uk
Work Experience Coordinator: Mr D Brittle
Telephone: 0121 533 3750 ext 5062
Email: dean.brittle@oldburyacademy.org.uk
Connexions Adviser: Lee Groucutt
Email: lee_groucutt@sandwell.gov.uk
Careers interviews provided by Birmingham Careers Service: Kashmir Rai & Rajvinder kaur-Hough
Email: Kashmir.Rai@birmingham.gov.uk / Rajvinder.kaur-hough@birmingham.gov.uk
Governor for Careers: Maggie Parsons
Email: maggie.parsons@oldburyacademy.org.uk
