Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG)

Westminster Academy is committed to providing high quality educational opportunities that enhance academic qualifications and prepare students with the skills and knowledge to go on to successful and fulfilling careers.

Our CEIAG programme ensures that all students have regular access to a wide range of employers and training providers. We equip students with the research skills to access diverse information, advice and guidance; all of which allows them to make informed decisions to ensure they are successful lifelong learners at Westminster Academy and beyond.

Provision is tailored to each year group, ensuring students receive relevant support for their stage of education. Year 10 students spend two weeks completing internship placements, Year 12 students complete a one-week placement, while Year 11 and Year 13 all receive comprehensive support in deciding on their next steps, and in applying for university, apprenticeships or further education.

Gatsby Benchmarks

Our Careers Programme is developed from the Gatsby Benchmarks and the Career Development Institutes’ ‘Framework for careers, employability and enterprise education’.

The eight Gatsby Benchmarks are: Careers interview Y10

  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

Central London Careers Hub

Westminster Academy is part of the Central London Careers Hub. The careers hub helps young people to build the skills and experiences they need to lead successful futures. The aim is to ensure that young people are aware of all the career pathways and opportunities available to them.

The network brings together schools, colleges, employers and careers and enterprise service providers to support better careers and enterprise programmes for young people, aged 11-18.

WA is currently supported by an Enterprise Adviser, a business professional who is attached to a school to help shape the careers programme and strategy using their areas of expertise.

Careers Programme

The WA Careers programme is delivered through Personal Development time and through the curriculum. There are events for every year group, including careers carousels, work experience, careers trips, workshops and talks. Careers-related mentoring opportunities raise aspiration and promote social mobility.  

View an outline of our careers programme here

Information for students

In addition to the Careers Programme lessons and events, students are able to explore a range of resources.

UniFrog is an excellent platform which allows Westminster Academy students to comprehensively research their futures. As well as interactive personality and interests quizzes, students can also find about local labour market information, key stage and career progression, universities and higher education courses. WA students are encouraged to keep a log of all of their achievements in the 'Locker' area to serve as a reference point for writing personal statements and applications when needed.

Bridge U is a platform which enables students to explore international universities. Access is made available for any student wishing to research international universities and apply to colleges in the US. 

We welcome feedback and suggestions from students on our careers programme, either via emailing the Careers and UCAS Lead, or from within their Unifrog account.

Information for parents and carers 

Parents and carers are invited to explore the dedicated guides linked below, and to access Unifrog resources with their child.IMG0128

We welcome feedback and suggestions from parents and carers on our careers programme, via the email address below of the Careers and UCAS Lead. 

Information for employers, training providers and educational establishments

We are keen to work in partnership with further education providers, apprenticeship providers, universities and employers, to give our students access to assemblies, workshops, workplace visits, mentoring programmes and many other schemes.

Expressions of interest should be sent to the Careers Lead (see below for contact details).

Further details of the criteria under which organisations will be given access to students, along with our available facilities can be found in Annex A of our CEIAG policy, in accordance with Section 42B of the Education Act 1997, and in our Provider Access Policy, found here.

Information for teachers and support staff

All teachers play an important role in providing students with a stable careers programme. Each academic department has a dedicated ‘careers champion’. All teachers have access to UniFrog, where there are resources to support Gatsby Benchmark 4; embedding careers into the curriculum.  

The following resources provide strategies and guides to further support linking the curriculum to careers.  

We welcome feedback and suggestions from teachers on our careers programme, via the email address below of the Careers and UCAS Lead. 

Measuring and assessing the impact of CEIAG

The impact of CEIAG provision at Westminster Academy is continually evaluated through tracking each student’s exposure to events, regular feedback from student voice, internal and external data on students’ destinations, usage statistics on our careers portal, and other methods as applicable.  We also stay in touch with our alumni who help to inform our thriving Careers programme.

Contact our Careers and UCAS LeadJane Arneil

Find out more about our Careers programme

  • Further details of our provision can be found in our CEIAG policy, which will be reviewed in June 2024.
  • Employers, training providers, educational establishments, students, parents and carers can contact our Careers Lead to find out more (see above for contact details).

Careers-related opportunities at WA

You can view some examples of careers-related opportunities in our weekly newsletters and on our News page.