Careers

Careers at The Belvedere Academy

The Belvedere Academy ensures all pupils develop the skills and knowledge to manage their learning and career progression, supporting pathways to Further Education, Apprenticeships, Internships, Employment, and Social Care.

Our strategy enhances existing careers guidance through internal programmes and external partnerships with:

High-quality guidance is delivered with Careers Connect. By raising awareness of opportunities, we help pupils make informed decisions and achieve their aspirations.

Careers education is embedded across Years 7–13 via Personal Development, Form Time, and Assemblies, fully aligned with the Gatsby Benchmarks and DfE requirements.

Provision is reviewed using the Compass Careers Benchmark Tool to measure progress against the eight Gatsby Benchmarks. The school is also part of the Liverpool City Region Careers Hub and follows the Provider Access Policy to ensure pupils hear from a range of education and training providers.

1. A Stable Careers Programme: We provide a careers programme delivered by qualified advisers via Careers Connect. It raises aspirations, develops employability skills, offers workplace experiences, and is regularly reviewed by senior leaders and governors using Compass tools from the Careers & Enterprise Company.

2. Learning from Labour Market Information: Students and staff use online careers tools and labour market information to make informed decisions. Parents are supported to understand this information, and opportunities in apprenticeships, further study, and work are explored.

3. Addressing Pupil Needs: Careers activities are tracked and personalised to support all pupils, including those with SEND or vulnerabilities. Programmes challenge stereotypes and raise aspirations for every student.

4. Linking Curriculum to Careers: Careers education is embedded across the curriculum, linking lessons to real-world opportunities through assemblies, personal development, and the My Future/My Skills programme.

5. Encounters with Employers: Students have at least one meaningful encounter with an employer each year to develop employability, entrepreneurship, and workplace awareness.

6. Workplace Experiences: All students gain workplace experience by Year 11, with further opportunities for sixth form students and visits to local industry.

7. Encounters with Further & Higher Education: Students meet FE, specialist colleges, and social care providers, and receive guidance on apprenticeships and study options.

8. Personal Guidance: Students meet FE, specialist colleges, and social care providers, and receive guidance on apprenticeships and study options.

Careers Newsletters

Careers Newsletter - January 2026

Careers Newsletter - March 2026

Careers Newsletter - April 2026

Careers Newsletter - May 2026

Careers Policy and Strategy

Our Careers Policy and Provider Access Policy are both available to read on the academy website: https://www.belvedereacademy.net/Policies/

The academy Careers Strategy is available to read below:

The Belvedere Academy Careers Strategy 2026-2027

Careers Programme at The Belvedere Academy

The Belvedere Academy Careers Programme 2026-2027

Careers Learning Journey 11-18

How We Measure and Assess the Careers Programme's Impact on Pupils

The Belvedere Academy works closely with the Careers and Enterprise Company. This is an external organisation that supports schools to ensure they are following the DFEs newly devised Careers Strategy. The following information is an extract taken from this guidance.

“The careers strategy sets out that every school and academy providing secondary education should use the Gatsby Charitable Foundation’s Benchmarks to develop and improve their careers provision. This statutory guidance has been restructured around the Benchmarks with information on what schools need to do to meet each one. The Gatsby Benchmarks are not a statutory framework but by adopting them, schools can be confident that they are fulfilling their legal duties: the existing duties to secure independent careers guidance and provide opportunities to a range of providers to inform pupils about technical education qualifications or apprenticeships and the new duty to publish information about the careers programme on the school website.”

The effectiveness of our provision is inspected and audited by the Careers and Enterprise Company using the Compass Careers Benchmark Tool. This tool is used by schools and colleges in England to support the analysis and evaluation of careers activity against the eight benchmarks of best practice (known as the Gatsby Benchmarks). The Careers and Enterprise Company coordinate the Audit deadlines. This ensures the development of our career strategy is ongoing to ensure best practice. Belvedere Academy is a member of the Liverpool City Region Careers Hub, in partnership with Growth Platform, connecting education and business to inspire our future workforce together.

The Compass audit deadline is July 2026.

In line with the recommendations set out in Gatsby Benchmark 1, we as a school plan to review the published information on an annual basis, inviting feedback from key audiences. This includes both parental and student voice feedback from our wide-ranging initiatives throughout the year, such as year group work shadowing, guest presentations and career meeting interviews.

This information was reviewed in September 2025. Next date for review is September 2026.

Independent Advice & Guidance for Our Pupils

All pupils can request to speak to a careers advisor. We employ Carol Doyle, c.doyle2@belvedereacademy.net, an independent careers advisor one day per week via Career Connect. Carol is able to offer you impartial advice on a range of career pathways and providers. She can offer advice and guidance as well as support for sixth form, university or college applications.

Our Careers Team

Title	Name	Responsibility
Head Teacher	Julie Taylor	Responsible for strategic support and challenge of career leader decisions.
Careers Senior Leader	Julie Marshall	Responsible for planning and setting the strategic direction of careers provision at The Belvedere Academy.
Careers Leader	Carmel Traynor	Responsible for the delivery and organisation of careers provision at The Belvedere Academy.
Career Administrator	Caroline Catesby-Evans	Responsible for the administrative support of Career Lead including the co-ordination of career interviews and work experience.
Careers Adviser	Carol Doyle (Careers Connect)	Responsible for the independent, impartial advice and guidance provided to students in 1-2-1 CEIAG interviews. Responsible for providing support to identified at risk of NEET students.
Enterprise Coordinator	Mel Aspinal	Providing support to develop their careers provision at The Belvedere Academy.

Sixth Form Careers

All students at Belvedere Sixth Form benefit from a bespoke programme of careers guidance and opportunities which provide a vast range of talks, assemblies, workshops, events and networking opportunities. The aim of this programme is to support and inspire students as they plan their next steps, encouraging them to challenge stereotypes and have high aspirations. We aim to not only develop knowledge about the world of work, but also provide opportunities to develop employability skills and contacts.

As a GDST school we are able to offer bespoke events and activities, including many that are only open to GDST schools. Event have included workshops with PwC in Manchester, investment banking and law events in London, and experiences at Rolls Royce in the Midlands. Closer to home, we also work with GDST experts to share timely careers information and ensure our students are up to date with Labour Market Information, allowing them to make informed choices. GDST regularly run assemblies & workshops, either in person or virtually, and our students can also reach for out for support to alumni from all GDST schools by using the GDST's own Rungway app.

All our students also have access to independent advice and guidance in school, from our fully qualified careers advisor who works one day a week, or online using the Fast Tomato careers platform which all sixth formers are signed up to and encouraged to use.

Unifrog

Unifrog is the universal destinations platform. It helps students compare every university course, every apprenticeship, and Further Education courses - then apply successfully.

An Introduction to Unifrog Unifrog GDPR Policy

Useful Websites for Pupils and Parents

Pupils

Parents

Apprenticeships - A Parents' Guide

Apprenticeships provide a practical pathway to enter the workforce, gain skills, and build a career. They also allow employers to develop a skilled workforce tailored to industry needs. Apprentices combine on-the-job training with classroom learning, earning a wage while gaining both practical experience and theoretical knowledge.

Learn more through these resources:

Local Offer

These links will include comprehensive information about the full range of opportunities for SEND students:

Training

Supported Internships

Halton Supported Internships

Work Experiences & Virtual Work Experience (Springpod)

Work Experience at The Belvedere Academy

Springpod is a free platform that aims to enable every young person to experience a university curse or career before they apply.

They partner with outstanding universities and employers to create interactive, experiential learning programmes which empower the next generation and enable them to take their future into their own hands by giving then equal access to opportunity.

From work experience to university course taster sessions, the Springpod platform is the destination for your people to explore, interact and learn about the world of work and university before they apply.

Free for every student, Springpod is monetised through university and employer partnerships and school & college premium memberships.