Careers Provision Evaluation

How we measure and assess the impact of the careers programme.

Barton Court Grammar School works closely with Education People and the Careers and Enterprise Company. They support us to develop and strengthen our careers education strategy across the whole school.

At Barton Court we use the 8 Gatsby Benchmarks and the Careers Development Institute Framework as a foundation when planning our Careers programme. The effectiveness of our provision is reviewed by the Careers Coordinator and the Careers and Enterprise Company using the Compass Plus 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.

This ensures the development of our careers strategy is ongoing. Barton Court is a member of the Careers Hub. We will benchmark our schools against the Gatsby Benchmarks once a term.

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 in our stakeholder evaluation group. BCGS will also be holding an annual Future Skills Questionnaire with the scholars during their transition years so that the programme has a youth voice.

What we evaluate
Stakeholder Feedback – We review samples of stakeholder feedback collected using various methods after activities, events and experiences
Implementation – We review what was actually delivered against the programme of planned activity and how well it went.
Impact -We measure key performance indicators linked directly to our vision and desired outcomes for our scholars

Why we evaluate – This careers programme is evaluated every year to assess its efficacy and areas for improvement. Key stakeholders (scholars, parents, teachers and employers) provide feedback on their participation in activities via questionnaires, surveys and focus groups throughout the year. We use the evidence collected to inform continuous improvement of the programme.

How we evaluate – We take parent, teacher and employer feedback via surveys and email. The school careers leader combines their own knowledge, evidence and information with that from the stakeholder group and provides a short report with recommendations to SLT towards the end of the summer term.

How the school measures & assesses the impact of the careers programme on pupils

• The School is using the ‘Compass evaluation tool’ to assess ongoing progress in relation to the eight Gatsby Benchmarks.

• The School has a ‘Careers Plan’ in place to track progress in relation to this year's priorities and the eight Gatsby Benchmarks.

• The ‘Careers Plan’ is reviewed termly.

• An external review of our work took place in March 2020.

 

The following steps are in place to evaluate the effectiveness of the School’s careers programme each year.

The evaluation cycle involves:

• Review of the objectives of the programme with a focus on outcomes for learners & assessing if the objectives have been met

• Focus on the delivery of the programme and evidence of impact on pupils

• Using feedback to adapt the programme to continuously improve

 

The evaluation involves looking at a range of evidence such as:

• attainment

• progress

• options pathways

• destinations data

• feedback from students e.g. their understanding of different careers and pathways

• Use of Unifrog in Tutor time and through the taught curriculum.

• Impact of curriculum days, such as Dragon’s Den and Year 9 Options

 

Feedback from other stakeholders includes:

• parents/carers

• teachers

• governors

• employers

• CEIAG partners, such as Careers and Enterprise Company

 

An outline of the evaluation schedule is as follows:

• Are we making the best use of the resources we have allocated for careers work? (Termly)

• The effectiveness of different guidance interventions, e.g. one-to one interviews, small group work, drop-in sessions

 

Are we optimising students’ learning from the careers programme?

• Evaluation of CEIAG events

• The learning outcomes achieved at the end of Year 9 and Year 11

 

How well are students succeeding in taking the next steps in their education, training or employment that are ‘right for them’?

• The effectiveness of the Year 9 options process The destinations achieved at the end of KS4 and KS5