During your time at Northampton College you will have access to a range of careers guidance and activities that are delivered through our published and extensive Careers Programme.

We use the eight Gatsby benchmarks of Good Career Guidance to measure and assess the impact of our careers programme on our students and their progression success.

Careers Education is embedded within the curriculum of all our study programmes to equip students with the skills and qualifications they need to progress onto higher education or into employment. Each curriculum team are committed to providing a variety of valuable experiences tailored the needs of their students including encounters with employers and employees, experiences of workplaces and encounters with further and higher education providers.

Our Careers Programme is designed to inform and inspire our students to be ambitious about their future plans, to identify and develop their skills as individuals and be more aware of the range of opportunities available to them. We promote information that is inclusive, raises aspirations, and challenges stereotypes.

Our Careers Vision Statement

“To ensure all our students are able to make confident, aspirational, and informed career decisions; develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to maximise their potential; and achieve success in the world of work.”

For more detailed information on our Careers provision, please refer to the Careers Policy, Programme Statement, Strategy and Calendar which can all be accessed via our Document Hub.

CAREERS GUIDANCE | DOCUMENT HUB

Careers Advice and Guidance

‘Futures’, our Careers service, is on hand to provide you with specialist support and guidance with career planning at every stage of your college journey.

All students have access to one-to-one careers advice with our team of experienced advisers who are passionate about supporting students to make informed choices, enabling them to maximise their potential, and make a successful transition into further study, training, or employment.

An accredited service  

Northampton College has Matrix accreditation; the unique quality standard for organisations to assess and measure their advice and support services and a benchmark for effectiveness and high standards. This ensures that the careers advice and guidance you receive will be impartial covering the full range of options to support your career planning.

The OFSTED inspection of Northampton College conducted in October 2018 highlighted the effective advice and guidance provided to students:

Group Progress and Support sessions provide information on a range of key topics designed to meet the needs of students at different stages of their journey with us. Academic Coaches provide regular one-to-one support sessions with students and help them to plan their progression.

Referrals to the Futures team are made by staff when they have identified an individual’s need for personal guidance. Students can also self-refer at any time before, during or after they study with us.

What we offer

We offer a wide range of services to provide impartial information, advice and guidance on the full range of career pathways available. This guidance is high quality, professional, empowering and raises aspirations amongst our students, pupils at local secondary schools, and across the wider community.

• Advice and guidance for students

  You can speak to a Futures adviser if you would like in-depth advice and guidance tailored to your needs. This could be about course or career options, your university application, CV advice, or anything else related to your progression. Futures advisers will help you to explore the full range of options available and support you to make the right choice for you.

  At Booth Lane students can drop into the Futures room (E1.01) by the Lookout. At Lower Mounts and Daventry telephone appointments can be made by visiting Student Services.

  Students can also email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and an adviser will be in touch.

• Advice and guidance for the community

  Our Futures advisers are also available to provide advice and guidance within the local community, and regularly visit local schools to speak to pupils about their options. Guidance sessions are available to book by calling the Enrolment Centre on 0300 123 2344 or using the live chat on the homepage. We are also able to offer support to parents and carers of students, often arranging information sessions covering topics such as Higher Education and Student Finance.

  If you have a quick query, we may be able to answer your question via email - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

• Events and workshops

  We organise many events, including:

  • Careers fairs
  • Employer talks
  • Mock interviews
  • Industry masterclasses
  • Guest lectures
  • Site visits
  • Workshops and webinars on careers, interviews, UCAS applications and more.

  We have excellent links with local and national employers and work closely with our Business Centre and Work Experience teams. We also support curriculum areas to link learning to careers and provide opportunities for employer engagement.

• Job searching

  The Futures team provide a virtual jobs board for students on the Futures SharePoint site which can be found via the student intranet. We have excellent links with employers and training providers, and we can support you if you’re looking for employment or volunteering opportunities.

  We encourage our students to access to up-to-date local labour market information. This is a useful tool to research future jobs both in the local area and nationally and will help you to understand the skills needed for certain roles and the demand for futures employment to help with planning your next steps. This can be found by visiting the SEMLEP website.

  You can use the Careerometer on LMI For All to compare different jobs and consider things such as working hours and salaries. 

  Our Futures advisers are happy to help you practice and prepare for an upcoming job or university interview, as well as improving your CV and completing applications.

• Documents and resources

  The Futures SharePoint page provides links to resources, events, webinars and Futures information leaflets on a range of progression topics.

  Northampton College students can also access an extensive range of careers information in the libraries across all three campuses.

• Information for parents and carers

  We value the input of our students’ parents and carers with their success and planning their next steps for progression. We are committed to providing a high standard of careers education and guidance to ensure that your child has the best possible start in their career.

  We will keep you informed of careers information with a termly email newsletter, and will also contact you with information on sessions relevant to your child’s progression covering topics such as Applying to University and Student Finance.

  Students, their parents, and carers can contact the Futures Careers team for advice by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

  If your child is at school and unsure about their options after Year 11 guidance sessions with the Futures team are available to book by calling the Enrolment Centre on 0300 123 2344 or using the live chat on the homepage.

  Our Careers Programme, Policy, Strategy and Calendar are available to view on the Document Hub and we welcome feedback on how we can improve these. If you would like to give feedback or are willing to be involved in and support our careers programme, please contact our Futures Team Leader Kirsty Lee - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

  For more information, you can visit the Parents' section of our website.

  PARENTS | NORTHAMPTON COLLEGE 

• Impact

  We regularly monitor and assess the quality and effectiveness of our Careers Programme through a range of methods:

  1. Matrix Quality Standard re-evaluation and accreditation.

  2. Termly self-evaluation of how our Careers Programme and services meet the requirements of the Gatsby Benchmarks.

  3. Data of students accessing the services, resources and activities provided.

  4. Student voice - student feedback on Careers activities

  5. Analysis of data on the destinations of our students when they complete their studies.

  Progress reports are submitted twice annually to the Senior Management Team at Curriculum Quality and Student Experience meetings.

• Review

  Our Careers Programme is reviewed annually with feedback from students, parents and carers, staff, employers and our Careers Governor.

Contact us

We welcome student feedback on our Careers provision, to enable us to make improvements tailored to the needs of our students. Please contact us to share your thoughts:

• Mark Owen, Careers Leader and Assistant Principal (Student Services) - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 01604 734015
• Kirsty Lee, Futures Team Leader, IAG and Schools Liaison Coordinator - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 01604 734030