See how Blackpool Sixth students are getting extra help on career path

Blackpool Sixth Form College has won both a regional and a national award for its Career Ready programme.

The scheme, which has been running at the college for 11 years ,provides students with an in-depth preparation for the world of work, including one-to-one mentoring, skills masterclasses, and high quality internships in industry.

The college’has been officially named Career Ready Centre the Year 2020 by the national charity that runs it.

Blackpool Sixth was chosen because of the way it provides a wide range of students with" excellent aspiration-raising activities" despite being in a area where opportunities and experiences can be relatively limited.

Over the years the college has built up a network of businesses who provide work experience , mentoring, jib placements and other support.

One of the highlight of the programme is that the college has sourced placements for students both locally and much further afield such as in Manchester, Guildford, London and Wales. The programme has grown year on year from around 10 students to 34 now across many different subject areas and backgrounds.

Dan Reeds, one of the programme’s co-ordinators at Blackpool Sixth,, said, “Career Ready gives us the chance to work with young people to really provide them with opportunities to show real aspiration and desire to work within the career industry of their choice. It has been an honour to watch them grow into confident young professionals through their work in the masterclasses and internships and interactions with local and national businesses as well as seeing them reach their goals of gaining their chosen apprenticeship or their first choice university."

Fellow staff co-ordinator Sarah Whittaker added: " We are delighted to have won these awards on behalf of all involved in the programme. We are always working hard to improve what we offer students so they can develop their skills and overcome any barriers to success.

"We feel this is very important for our area where students don’t have access to the range of opportunities young people have in more affluent parts of the country."

Current student Connor Dagger, has his sights set on being a project manager at BAE Systems. He said: "Career Ready has supported me in improving my presentation and interview skills as well as expanding my network by working with different employers and it has enabled me to take more control over my own career path and making me career ready."

Effie Sharp, primary education recruitment specialist at Randstad Education, has been a Career Ready mentor since 2015, winning Mentor of the Year in 2017, and said: "As a mentor we see the students grow in confidence, have well informed conversations about their future and be excited to learn what they can achieve. I am so proud of Blackpool Sixth and proud to be part of the programme."

Paul Wilcock, director at Ashton Wilcock Chartered Accountants, has been part of the programme since the start.

He added, "I have enjoyed working with some extremely well-rounded and keen young people and also watching them develop under the programme."