Careers

Please read our Career Education, Information, Advice and Guidance Policy Statement on our Policies Page. 

Intent  

Dorothy Stringer School believes that careers education enables students to develop the knowledge, confidence and skills they need to make well informed choices to allow them to progress smoothly into further learning and work. It prepares young people for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life, thereby ensuring that all our young people leave education with employment or go into further education or training.  

Our careers programme continues to be developed in line with the eight Gatsby Benchmarks for ensuring best practice and to meet the requirements of the Department for Education’s statutory guidance updated in 2026.  

The Gatsby Benchmarks  

  1. A stable careers programme  
  2. Learning from career and labour market information  
  3. Addressing the needs of each student  
  4. Linking curriculum learning to careers  
  5. Encounters with employers and employees  
  6. Experience of work places  
  7. Encounters with further and higher education  
  8. Personal guidance  

All students have access to all parts of the school’s provision for CEIAG. Every effort is made to ensure that the programme respects and caters for the needs of individuals, respects diversity, promotes equality of opportunity and informs with impartiality.  

We are committed to providing:  

A stable and inspiring programme of activities to which all students from Years 7 to 11 are entitled, which will help them to make informed choices, understand their next-steps and demonstrate growth in 21st Century skills that are critical to their goals.  

Information, advice and guidance which is impartial, unbiased and based on their needs to help students make choices.  

Implementation  

Attached below is a summary of our careers programme, which is developed and improved each year.  

Outline Careers Programme  

Impact  

Our desired impact is that all students transition smoothly into their first choice of destination when they leave Dorothy Stringer School, whether that be further education, apprenticeship, or employment with training.  

We regularly measure the impact of our programme by auditing and evaluating our careers programme. For this purpose, we use the Careers Enterprise Gatsby Benchmark Evaluation Tool, DfE published destination measures, conducting student voice surveys, visitor feedback, work experience evaluations and feedback from parents, students and staff over the course of each year.  

Following our comprehensive review of post-16 pathways in PSHE lessons and a variety of post-16 provider events, we are pleased that our students take up a variety of offers from a range of colleges, for example, BHASVIC, Varndean College, Brighton MET, BRIT School, Newman College, Plumpton College, Brighton College, DV8, BACA and East Sussex College.  Students also enrol in apprenticeship courses.  

In accordance with the Baker Clause in the Technical and Further Education Act 2017, the school welcomes visits from a range of education and training providers throughout the school year and through the events, assemblies and PSHE lessons listed in our Outline Careers Programme above.    

Please see our Statement on Provider Access for further details:  Statement on Provider Access

For our most recent destination figures (published 2 years in arrears), please visit this government website: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/114580/dorothy-stringer-school/secondary/provisional-pupil-destination 

Careers Leader: Mrs L. Lloyd – lyd@dorothy-stringer.co.uk 

Careers Advisor: Ms A. Carroll – amanda.carroll@dorothy-stringer.co.uk  

Work Experience Coordinator: Ms R Taylor-Beale – workexperience@dorothy-stringer.co.uk   

Careers Administrator: Ms B. Shevlin – shv@dorothy-stringer.co.uk 

Next CIAG review date: Autumn 2028