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Careers Education

Kendrick School is committed to providing a range of opportunities, experiences and resources to enable students in KS3, 4 and 5 to help them engage with their future life after Kendrick.

Our aim at Kendrick School, is to ensure that the careers provision is tailored to the needs and circumstances of all our students. We have a careers plan and we encourage all of our stakeholders to be aware of it and we commit to keeping it up to date. We continually develop our network and information through our existing networks and our governing body to ensure that the programme considers their knowledge of the changing labour market.

A wide range of internal and external opportunities and activities are communicated through appropriate channels to inform our students of career development pathways.

The platforms that we use to deliver our programme are: assemblies, tutor time, PSHCE, employer-encounters, workplace experiences, employability experiences, Year-Group conferences and drop-down days.

If you are an employer who is interested in providing work experience to our students, please email our Careers Coordinator, CMcManus@kendrick.reading.sch.uk.

The main objectives of CEIAG at Kendrick are in line with the Governments careers strategy which is expressed by the Gatsby Benchmarks.

CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES

Please note that whilst we are happy to share these opportunities with you, we are unable to endorse or recommend them. 


Young Professionals Summer Conference, London, Saturday 18th July | 9am–1pm or 2pm–6pm | Friends House, Euston.  Booking fee £26  

Morning session (9am–1pm): https://buy.stripe.com/8x2eVe8Rl6kFgMQa3m53O0k

Afternoon session (2pm–6pm):  https://buy.stripe.com/8x28wQc3x10lfIMgrK53O0l

Young Professionals is running a careers' event, comprising: high-impact workshops — CVs, LinkedIn, interviews, apprenticeships & more🎤 Talks from senior leaders across banking, tech, law and business🤝 Face-to-face networking with recruiters actively looking for young talent📸 Free LinkedIn headshots and personal branding support🎁 Goodie bags & downloadable career resources

Special guests:⭐ Dan Miller — BBC The Apprentice Final 5 & YP Founder⭐ Apprentice stars Priyesh & Harry⭐ Senior speaker from Google

30+ global employers, including KPMG · Google · Goldman Sachs · UBS · EY · HSBC · Visa · Unilever · Accenture · Lloyds Banking Group · Arm · Bird & Bird · A&O Shearman · Farrer & Co · Charles Russell Speechlys · BDO · Grant Thornton · FDM · PA Consulting · CIMA · TLT · Worldwide Technology · The University of Law · and more to be confirmed.


Own Your Story - A KPMG LGBTQIA+ Virtual Event to hear directly from our people as they share their stories, experiences and insights. You’ll hear from former degree apprentice and content creator, Tom Oakton as part of our panel Q&A and you’ll also discover how we're fostering an inclusive environment and empowering the next generation of LGBTQIA+ leaders.

Wednesday 17th June 2026, 16:30pm – 17:30pm

Register to secure your place!


2-week paid work experience offered for Year 12 students during the school holidays 

Smart Futures provides young people with 8 days of paid employability training and work experience, followed by the opportunity to request an EY business mentor to support career, personal and academic development over the course of 6 months.

 We are excited to run a Smart Futures Business & Technology programme with EY Reading in 2026! This will suit any students who are interested in finding out more about careers in professional services, accounting, consulting, technology, law, and similar careers.

 Dates (school holidays):

  • 26th to 29th May 2026
  • 27th to 30th July 2026

 To be eligible, young people need to be:

 In Year 12 and either 16 or 17 years

  • Eligible, not necessarily claiming free school meals OR the college bursary within the last 2 years. You can see if you are eligible using this tool or check our website
  • Studying A Levels or equivalent Level 3
  • Achieved a minimum of an English Language Grade 4 or English Functional Skills Level 2

 If you are interested, please complete an application form ( APPLY ) When completing the application form, you must select ‘Business and Technology’ as the Programme. This will then allow the option to apply to the Reading based programme.


Programmes - Virtual Insights Into University – explore STEM subjects at top universities

Programmes - Insights Into University – residential taster of university life studying STEM subject.  – for both courses, students receive  a SILVER Industrial Cadets Award.

Fully Funded Bursary places are available for eligible students,  eligibility criteria can be found here.

A stable careers programme

Every school and college should have an embedded programme of career education and guidance that is known and understood by pupils, parents, teachers and employers.

Kendrick School is committed to providing a range of opportunities, experiences and resources to enable students in KS3, 4 and 5 to help them engage with their future life after Kendrick. Our aim is to ensure that the careers provision is tailored to the needs and circumstances of all our students. 

Learning from career and labour market information

Every pupil, and their parents, should have access to good-quality information about future study options and labour market opportunities. They will need the support of an informed adviser to make the best use of available information.

At Kendrick, we continually develop our network and information through our existing contacts and our governing body to ensure that the programme considers their knowledge of the changing labour market.

Addressing the needs of each pupil

Pupils have different career guidance needs at different stages. Opportunities for advice and support need to be tailored to the needs of each pupil. A school’s careers programme should embed equality and diversity considerations throughout.

Our careers programme is designed in such a way as to be relevant across all 3 key stages and therefore is progressive in nature. It sets out to increase the autonomy of our students when making career decisions and showing them a range of alternative routes after leaving Kendrick.

Linking curriculum learning to careers

All teachers should link curriculum learning with careers. For example, STEM subject teachers should highlight the relevance of STEM subjects for a wide range of future career paths.

Kendrick will ensure a collective approach to the careers programme where staff will explain the relevance of their subject areas and expertise with connection to the workplace and future careers.

Encounters with employers and employees

Every pupil should have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about work, employment and the skills that are valued in the workplace. This can be through a range of enrichment activities, including visiting speakers, mentoring and enterprise schemes.

Kendrick School recognises the relevance of allowing our students to have multiple opportunities to learn from employers about the world of work. We ensure that all year groups on KS3 and KS4 achieve this above the minimum level of one encounter per year.

Experiences of workplaces

Every pupil should have first-hand experiences of the workplace through work visits, work shadowing and/or work experience to help their exploration of career opportunities, and expand their networks.

Kendrick School has long-invested in the activity of giving our KS4 & KS5 students a week's work experience. We have an external provider (Learning to Work), to source and manage these placements. The process includes a short interview with the student so that a good match between the placement-provider and student is achieved.

The Greatest of all Greeks and the Greatest of all Work Experiences

Encounters with further and higher education

All pupils should understand the full range of learning opportunities that are available to them. This includes both academic and vocational routes and learning in schools, colleges, universities and in the workplace.

During the Post 16 conference, the Year 11 students have a chance to consider alternative places of study for their KS5 years and also alternative routes of study and employment are fully discussed. 

In the Sixth Form, there is a formal programme to introduce and explain the UCAS application process as well as discussing alternative exit routes such as gap year, apprenticeships, internships and more.

Personal guidance

Every pupil should have opportunities for guidance interviews with a Careers Adviser, who could be internal (a member of school staff) or external, provided they are trained to an appropriate level. These should be available whenever significant study or career choices are being made. They should be expected for all pupils but should be timed to meet their individual needs.

Kendrick school sees the benefit of providing personal guidance to our students to help them focus on their future dreams and help them structure their next steps to reach their goals and fulfil their aspirations. We recognise that this will require the support of outside professionals, and we have entrusted this to 'Learning to Work'.

Careers Co-ordinator

Our Careers Co-ordinator, Mrs Candace McManus, leads our CEAIG work with a high level of expertise to maintain and develop our stable careers programme. Curriculum and tutor time is dedicated to allow for a planned delivery of CEIAG content through skilled personnel. We are supported by external professional agencies to assist with the delivery of certain aspects of the programme. We promote the importance of the careers programme to students, parents, teachers and employers so that they know what to expect and how they can contribute to its success. We undertake regular evaluation of the programme to inform future decisions about the programme.

Please contact the Careers Co-ordinator, Mrs McManus, for more information.