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Employment
We are dedicated to providing our students with the best educational experience available. As a vocational college we are passionate about helping students to gain the skills they need to progress in their chosen career, putting equal emphasis on occupational qualifications and employability skills development.
Through our Career & Personal Development Passport and Placement Programmes all our students will be supported to:
- Create their personal CV template
- Gain interview practice
- Meet with employers in their sector to learn about careers and expectations
- Develop the personal skills needed to progress to their next step
- Be ready to secure and complete a relevant placement
Career & Personal Development Passport
Boost your Skills, Achieve your Potential
Our individualised Passport programme encourages students to progress their employment skills, knowledge and experience. In addition to accessing support with CV writing and interview practice, it provides opportunities to meet employers and discover more about working in their chosen sector.
By taking time to reflecting on activities completed students are able to identify the transferable skills they have gained. This supports them to enter the world of work and progress in their future careers.
All students are expected to complete their Career & Personal Development Passport and attain a Bronze Award. By completing extra and more complex activities they can advance on to achieve a Silver or Gold Award.
Supported by our Careers & Education Programme, Progress Coaches and Placement Team, students complete activities throughout the year to build their personal skills and career knowledge.
All students have a dedicated Placement Officer allocated to their curriculum area to help them complete their Passport and receive their Award certificate.
Work & Industry Placements
Students on a study programme will have the opportunity to complete a placement. Placements range in length as some courses require students to complete a fixed number of placements hours to achieve their qualification. Placement requirements will be discussed during the application and enrolment process.
Work Placements are 30+ hours in a role relevant to the qualification being studied to give an insight into working in that industry.
Industry Placements is an elite programme offering selected students 315+ hours of extensive qualification relevant experience, plus they receive additional support to develop their employability skills including finding and applying for roles, interview preparation and CV writing.
All students have a dedicated Placement Officer allocated to their curriculum area to help them find and plan a placements and support them with making the most of the opportunity.
Benefits of a placement
- Students gain ‘real-life’ work experience in an industry they are interested in.
- Relevant experience can help make a CV or UCAS application stand out from the crowd.
Provides valuable employer feedback to support with future job applications. - Builds skills valued by employers such as teamwork, communication and adaptability.
- Some students have been offered part time work on completion of their placement.
Employers offering a placement
We would love to hear from you if you are an employer looking to offer a placement. We are always looking for organisations who want to commit to taking on suitable students and put them through their paces.
KC Voluntary
Benefits of being a KC Volunteer
- Experience in a variety of voluntary settings
- Support to help students engage with voluntary organisations
- Acknowledgement of their contribution to the community with a certificate to add to their personal record of achievement.
Your Questions Answered
Personal Skills development takes place both in and outside college, e.g. attending a Student Voice meeting, being a member of a sports team, completing enrichment activities.
Industry knowledge is direct interaction with an employer or FE/HE institution, e.g. completing an employer live brief, attending a university open day, volunteering.
Employment Skills are specific to applying to future opportunities e.g. interview preparation, completing a CV template.
All activities are recorded on our NAVIGATE system, this can be access directly from the Student ProPortal or via a smart phone.
Student will receive a full induction on how to access and use the NAVIGATE system and their Placement Officer and Progress Coaches will provide ongoing support.
A key element of studying at a vocational college is gaining valuable work experience. All students will have the opportunity to complete a placement during their time studying with us.
Some qualifications require students to complete a placement to pass their course. When enrolling in college you will be informed if you are required to complete placement hours.
Placements are planned during main college hours in addition to existing timetabled classes. Placements planned outside of these times are planned in agreement with the student and their parent/guardian.
Placements are planned throughout the academic year, although some courses set specific weeks for this activity. Students need to be flexible to attend when opportunities are found and placement activity planned into their timetable.
Placement Officers will support with finding placements but students are actively encouraged to look for employers themselves.
Some part-time jobs may qualify as a placement if linked to the qualification been studied, and there is the opportunity for further development.
Students can only start their placement once their Placement Officer has confirmed the placement details with the company and vetted their Health & Safety compliance.
Employers are not required to pay students on placement, however some employers may choose to reimburse expenses.
Students on bursary can claim support for travel and lunch on the days they attend. Funding is available to support eligible industry placements students with additional costs incurred completing an extended placement.
Some students impress their placement employers and are offered paid work after their placement finishes.
If they are not able to attend students must contact the employer and their Placement Officer before their start time. Students may need to make up hours missed to achieve their required hours.
If there are any concerns or something goes wrong during placement, students must contact their Placement Officer, they will provide support and help resolve any problems. Students must not just stop attending.