National Careers Week March 6th – 10th 2017

National Careers Week (NCW) is a celebration of careers guidance and free resources in education across the UK. The aim is to provide a focus for careers guidance activity at an important stage in the academic calendar to help support young people leaving education.
With youth unemployment remaining high and employers citing that young people are ill prepared with the basic skills needed for employment, there has never been a bigger need for careers guidance to be promoted and celebrated in education. National Careers Week is the perfect platform to advise and inspire the next generation as they enter the world of work.

National Careers Week, which takes place between the 6th and 10th of March, encourages education providers to bring together students, local employers and advisers through careers events and activities. During National Careers Week it is up to every school, academy and college to offer careers advice and guidance to their students with support from NCW in providing free resources, information on current career opportunities and advice on activities and exercises to run.

Whilst National Careers Week has been running successfully since 2011 and has seen a steady growth in terms of activity, Chief Exec Nick Newman is now supported by an impressive team who represent best practice in terms of careers guidance, education and enterprise.
Activities throughout the UK will be supported and often initiated by a team of regional ambassadors, each with a passion for embedding careers guidance and employer engagement in the curriculum.

Employer Support & Feedback:
RBS have once again come on board as the main sponsor for National Careers Week with additional sponsorship received from organisations including the NHS. Sponsorship from employers allows the team to produce a host of free resources including event templates, videos and classroom literature.

Vin Bhabra, Campaign Marketing Manager for Early Careers at RBS:
“RBS are delighted to announce that we’ll be sponsoring National Careers Week in 2017. Sponsoring NCW is a great way to build on our commitment to provide employment and learning opportunities for people starting out their careers, and carries on the work we’re already doing in recruiting apprentices and undergraduates into numerous areas of our business, helping them gain invaluable experience and qualifications. #NCW2017 provides us with a strong platform to raise our profile as an employer who is committed to helping individuals early in their employment journey understand how their skills and passions can shape a career.”

“We truly believe that it’s students’ passions that will shape them into motivated, inspired and driven members of our team. This way, we can help them realise their full potential.”

Tom Morrison, Partner, Rollits LLP:
“If every employer does something little, together we could have a huge impact on the direction which the lives of young people across our region take. Whether it is spending an hour with a class talking about what you do every day at work or holding a session on what you look for in prospective employees, this is a classic win-win scenario: you have a chance to help make our communities stronger and to harness the enthusiasm of the brightest talent out there, and young people have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the rich variety of careers available to help them realise their full potential.”

Teacher & Student Feedback:
Teaching staff who regularly seek out a real life context for classroom learning report that their students are more aware of their own employability skills and how these might be needed in the world of work. By using employer engagement to do this, students and teaching staff alike become more aware of the ever growing number of careers available.

Simon Beck, Assistant Headteacher, Lister Community School:
“National Careers Week offers staff and students a fantastic insight in to the huge range of career pathways available to young people today, whilst encouraging their engagement with and local and national employers, and international corporations.
“Celebrating careers provides students with a motivational boost, raising their aspirations and pushing them to pursue their full potential. By taking part in the activities on offer throughout the week, our students are inspired to take on the World of Work.”

Ellis Bywood, Student, Malet Lambert School:
I’m in year 11 now and have been involved in National Careers Week activities for the last 4 years. Our school has developed some great links with employers which means that we can get an understanding of the careers available to us. I think it helps that we’re able to get a feel for industries we might not have previously considered or even understood.

National Careers Week – March 6th – 10th:
Activities will be taking place at schools and colleges throughout the UK. This may involve employer talks, workplace visits, careers fairs, the use of free National Careers Week resources, classroom activities or taster sessions. The level of activity is down to the individual school and the employer network supporting them.

Using the National Careers Week website those getting involved will be asked to share information on their activities throughout the week including via social media using #NCW2017. Local ambassadors will be on hand in the lead up to events and during the week to help publicise local activities. A number of national and local media opportunities will be available and can be tailored to suite your requirements.

The week provides a great focus for those involved in delivering the Careers & Enterprise Company programmes and we are keen to work with the Local Enterprise Partnership network and other agencies to support and promote activities which reflect the needs and opportunities of the local labour market.

National Careers Week Website: http://nationalcareersweek.com
Twitter: @CareersWeek #NCW2017 (Over 10,000 twitter followers)
RBS Early Careers website http://yourpassionyourpotential.rbs.com/