Careers Services at College

Starting a new programme at College is an exciting time and is the beginning of your career journey with us.  Our careers team is there for when you need to make decisions about your future career plans, exploring your choices and career interests.

We have a team of Careers Advisers who are here to help you plan for your future. When booking an appointment it will help us if you can provide information on what you need help with.

Our learners can book a careers guidance appointment:

Email careerslounge@nnc.ac.uk or call 01909 504500.

Careers Team Mission Statement

We are committed to providing high quality, impartial careers information, advice and guidance tailored to meet individual needs. We will support and inspire our learners to empower them to realise their career goals and progress with their career plans.

Careers Strategy

Our Careers Strategy sets out our commitment to supporting our learners with their career ambitions.

Careers Strategy Booklet.pdf

Careers Lounge

On each campus we have a Careers Lounge where you can find all kinds of careers and labour market information. Learners will also find careers information on our Careers Google site and in our learning hubs.

The National Careers Service can you embed the link is also available to support our learners. Available 7 days a week, on line or call 0800 100 900.

Careers Development Programme

Our careers and enrichment programmes are designed to engage and empower you by providing a variety of engaging activities that expose you to the world of work and enable you to develop transferable skills. 

You will have the opportunity to meet a range of employers, university representatives and Apprenticeship providers as well as voluntary organisations. You also have the opportunity to undertake work experience. 

We encourage you to join in with these activities to discover more about the world of work and to understand how your career aspirations fit in. 

Have a look at our Careers Journey Programme to find out more about what we offer.

The Gatsby Benchmarks and Government Policy

In February 2018, the Government issued a new careers guidance strategy, “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. Experiences of workplaces
7. Encounters with further and higher education
8. Personal guidance

In 2024 the College’s careers programme successfully achieved all Gatsby Benchmarks.

The College has a Careers Leader, Lindsey Ascough, who works across College to collaborate with colleagues to develop appropriate careers inputs for learners.

If you have any questions, please email careersleader@rnngroup.ac.uk.

The Gatsby Benchmarks underpin the College careers programme. Our goal is to ensure our learners:

• Have the opportunity to spend time with an informed adviser and have information, advice and guidance interviews with the careers team at a time which is appropriate for the learner and is tailored to their needs;
• Have access to high quality information on future pathways and the labour market;
• Are challenged and encouraged to consider careers which they may not usually consider;
• Understand links between their course and careers particularly the importance of Maths and English for future employment;
• Explore more about different careers and the labour market needs of different job sectors through talks, visits, events, industry placements and uptodate information;
• Have the opportunity to understand the progression pathways including, academic and technical routes at 16+, including further education courses, Apprenticeships as well as learning at Higher Education. This will include careers fairs, visits, talks and events from universities, apprenticeship providers and our other partner organisations.  We will support learners making applications to apprenticeships/jobs, university or college.
• Gain skills through coaching sessions in preparation for university or job interviews.

Working with Employers

It is vital our learners gain insights into the future needs of the world of work, understand the expectations of an employee and learn about how businesses are managed. 

We offer our learners a range of opportunities to spend time with employers through mentoring, work experience, events, site visits, industry talks and social projects. These activities provide employers the opportunity to engage with our learners, to influence the next generation of entrepreneurs and to prepare employees for the realities of work. This contributes to raising aspirations of our learners, encouraging them to explore different and new careers and to go onto exciting and rewarding careers. 

Any employers who would like to find out more about how they could support our learners please contact Lindsey Ascough on careersleader@rnngroup.ac.uk.

Partnerships and Events

We work with many organisations from the world of business, education and the voluntary sector as well as our alumni, to support our learners with their careers aspirations. We rely on these organisations to support the many events we run throughout the year.

If any organisations or former students would like to find out more about supporting our learners please contact Lindsey Ascough on careersleader@rnngroup.ac.uk.

Resources

We’ve included some other sources of information for you to understand more about all the different options available and to help you decide on your future goals. Click the links below to find out more:

The National Careers Service

Apprenticeships

UCAS

University Guide

Paying tuition fees and living costs

Help Getting a Job

Click the following link to create and build your CV.

Provider Access

We would like to set out the College’s arrangements for managing the access of providers to learners at College for the purpose of giving them information about the provider’s education or training offer. This complies with the College’s commitment to the Baker Clause.

All learners are entitled to:

• Find out about technical education qualifications and apprenticeships opportunities, as part of a careers programme which provides information on the full range of education and training options available at each transition point;
• Hear from a range of local providers about the opportunities they offer, including technical education and apprenticeships – through options events, assemblies and group discussions and taster events;
• Understand how to make applications for the full range of academic and technical courses.

Any education and training providers wishing to request access should get in touch with the careers leader, Lindsey Ascough, telephone 01709 362111 or email lascough@rnngroup.ac.uk.

The College will then work with providers in order to identify the most effective opportunity for them to share information about education and training opportunities with learners and/or parents/carers. 

Sessions are delivered in a variety of ways, for example through fairs and direct via class sessions. More virtual and blended learning opportunities are now made available to learners.

In addition, providers may also wish to provide written information/course literature. This will be accessible to learners in the careers and employability hubs at College. 

Further Advice on our Careers Programme

Our information and guidance service is quality assured through Matrix Standard accreditation.

For assistance with the careers programme or the College strategy please contact our Careers Leader Lindsey Ascough on careersleader@rnngroup.ac.uk.