Parents' and Carers' Resources - including Support Guides, Podcasts and More

As a parent or carer, you want to be able to guide and advise your child towards the best opportunity for them. So, where do you start?

There are so many options available to your child when they leave school.  Depending upon their age will depend on the pathways open to them.

Post 16 students can join a sixth form, begin an apprenticeship, study T Levels at some colleges or develop their confidence through a traineeship

Post 18 students can also begin apprenticeships, apply for full-time university, consider a gap year, move into employment or even consider volunteering!

With such a range of opportunities now available it is important for teachers, parents and carers to develop our knowledge as being informed is the best way to build our confidence, and ultimately to support the next generation to make the best decision for them.

Amazing Apprenticeships has a dedicated Parent Zone, to help you to begin to explore these options.

Included in this area are the following excellent resources:

• Rapid Read – What is an apprenticeship?
• Rapid Read – What are Traineeships
• Rapid Read – What are T Levels
• Rapid Read – Apprenticeship levels explained
• Rapid Read – What is a degree apprenticeship
• Rapid Read – Finding the best apprenticeship for you
• Apprenticeships: Hints & Tips for Parents and Carers

A Parent’s Guide – What do you need to know?

The Uni Podcasts

Supporting Parents and Carers with all things University

UniTasterDays has developed a podcast series, which provides Parents and Carers with cutting edge and up-to-date information and conversations to provide excellent support to those considering University. In plain English, without the jargon, and from the experience of everyone involved in the process.

There are currently seven recordings which can be accessed via the link below:

1. The UNI Guide Podcast - Our starter for 10 (2 minutes)
2. Parents and Carers - why your influence is essential in University decisions (49 minutes)
3. Student Finance. The cost of University uncovered (57 minutes)
4. University - taking out the Jargon! (42 minutes)
5. The myths that surround University (42 minutes)
6. Exploring vocational qualifications (38 minutes)
7. Introducing University summer schools and residential experiences (37 minutes)
8. The benefits of University events (33 minutes)

Click on this LINK to access the podcasts.

Amazing Apprenticeships - The Parent Perspective Podcast

The #NAW2024 Parent Perspective Podcast special episode 'One Year On'

In this special episode we caught up with Skills and Apprenticeships Minister, Robert Halfon to find out what progress has been made in widening opportunities for everyone in the apprenticeships world, and what we can expect in the next few months.

Tune in now by following this LINK.

To review earlier editions of the Parent Perspective Podcast, please see the details on our website in our Parents and Carers Career Area HERE.

Amazing Apprenticeships - The Parent Perspective Podcast Season 3

S3 E1: The Public Sector

Welcome to series three of the Parent Perspective, and we’re kicking off by exploring opportunities in the public sector and what part apprentices can play in the future of the workforce.

Host Rachel Burden finds out about the new doctor apprenticeships and much more with LUCY HUNTE, the National Programme Manager for Apprenticeships at NHS England, and GRACE BERNARD-BROADRECK, the Outreach Team Lead at the Metropolitan Police, explains how the MET’s police constable apprenticeship works.

S3 E2: The Alternatives

We’re exploring some of the more unexpected places that apprenticeships can take you in this episode of the Parent Perspective.

Host Rachel Burden speaks to Richard, the apprentice manager at FCDO Services, which provides services to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; Sarah Waterman, the apprenticeships and work experience manager at the Royal Opera House and Anna Morrison, the founder and director of Amazing Apprenticeships.

S3 E3: The Masterchef

So many young people start their working lives in sectors like retail or hospitality, but how can they turn that first job into a career? In this episode of the Parent Perspective, host Rachel Burden is joined by someone who has done just that.

Louisa Ellis reached the final three of Masterchef: the Professionals back in 2017 before returning to win a special festive episode in 2020. She tells Rachel how she’s followed her dreams and forged a career in cooking, working her way from from Michelin starred kitchens to running her own private dining business.

S3 E4: The Diversity

In this episode, we’re finding out how employers are supporting real diversity in apprenticeships? And asking, how does that impact diversity in the workplace?

Host Rachel Burden is joined by Kasim Choudhry, Multicultural Apprenticeship Ambassador & Event Project Manager at skills provider Pathway Group, and Anna Morrison, the founder and director of Amazing Apprenticeships.

S3 E5: The Army: why apprenticeships are so important to the British Army

In October 2023, the nation’s number one apprenticeship employer, the British Army, celebrates 100 years of offering apprenticeships – but what does an apprenticeship in the British Army look like? What options are available? And how do you go about getting on an Army apprenticeship?

To answer those questions and plenty more, host Rachel Burden is joined by Colonel Craig Terblanche, who is part of the Education Training Services team in the British Army and Deputy Assistant to the Chief of Staff within Education and Mandy Gregdon, whose son Oscar has just graduated from Army Foundation College Harrogate (in August) and has moved into training.

S3 E6: Post-16 options

Has there ever been more options available to a 16 year old leaving school?!

This episode is the first of three in ‘Options October’. In later episodes we’ll focus on post-18 choices and ‘retraining’, but in this episode, it’s all about the options open to young people post-16, after their GCSEs.

Joining Rachel are Lisa Capper MBE, who is the Principal of Stoke-on-Trent College, and Laura Hussey, who is a teacher within DSPL and parent of a Year 11 student and a daughter who’s just left Sixth Form.

An additional resource to support this episode can be accessed by following this LINK.

S3 E7: Post-18 options

University, a gap year, an apprenticeship or maybe a job? Just four of the many options facing 18 year olds leaving college. But how can you help your young people make the right decision?

This episode is the second of three in ‘Options October’. Last week we focused on post-16 choices and in the third of the three we’ll look at ‘retraining’, but in this episode, it’s all about the options open to young people post-18.

S3 E8: The Options for Re-Training:How Apprenticeships can lead to a new career

After looking at options post-16 and post-18, the third of our three special ‘Options October’ episodes is all about showing you – the parents and carers – that apprenticeships are also a positive option for you if you fancy a career change.

Rachel is joined by Karen Cotici, who has left her career in finance to retrain as a nurse, and Marie Doherty, who is the Director of Apprenticeships for School of Nursing and Midwifery at University of Keele.

S3 E9: The Engineer

In the final episode of this series Rachel Burden is joined by Santina Bunting who, at the age of just 18 is already well into her degree apprenticeship with civil engineering firm ARUP, has been shortlisted for the multicultural apprenticeship awards and won an Institute of Civil Engineering quest scholarship award.

Santina tells Rachel why an engineering apprenticeship was the right route for her as well as why she feels she can be a role model for other young women looking to break into the trades sector.

Click on this LINK to access the podcasts and related resources for Season 3.

Amazing Apprenticeships - The Parent Perspective Podcast Season 2

“The Parent Perspective” is an exciting podcast series for parents and carers, helping them to support their children with careers advice and guidance.

Together with 'Not Going to Uni', we want to make sure that we are supporting parents to feel informed and confident in providing careers support and guidance to their child, so that they ultimately make the best decisions for them.

Through the podcast, Rachel and guests offer a fun and informative space for listeners to:

• Explore which careers are available today
• Showcase the experiences of interesting and diverse role models
• Provide real-time insights into how the world of work is changing

Each episode, Rachel speaks to a diverse mix of parents, bringing their burning questions to expert speakers from the careers world. Together they uncover practical solutions and informative answers to help you and your child make informed decisions on those all important next steps.

Click on this LINK to access the podcasts and related resources for Season 2.

The Parent Perspective Podcast Season 1

The Amazing Apprenticeship website has a fantastic series of Podcasts called the Parent Perspective to support you to support your child with careers advice and guidance. Click on the links below to access each episode from Season 1.

	In episode 1 we hear from Nicola Hall, Director of Education at the Careers and Enterprise Company, talking about the current careers landscape and her 5 top tips on how to support your child when exploring options. We’ll also hear from George Anderson, a health and wellbeing coach, addressing the anxieties parents have right now and the practical solutions to help. We are also joined by a brilliant panel of parents and carers, who will be asking questions and discussing our speaker topics throughout the episode.
	In episode 2 we look at the experiences of young people and ways in which they can stand out when applying for competitive schemes. We hear from a young graduate and an apprentice about their respective career journeys, what paths they took, why they made that choice, and how their parents supported them to pursue their chosen careers.  We also hear from Mark Smith, Resourcing Specialist – Early Careers, at the BBC, who shares his hints and tips for young people applying for competitive schemes and his insights on careers opportunities at the moment.
	In episode 3 we look at ways in which parents can be supporting and advising their children about the variety and range of careers.  Lucy Hunte, National Programme Manager for Health Education England, joins us to discuss how and where parents can make a start in advising their child. Lucy also looks more widely at the opportunities available within different sectors and employers, as well as the different pathways to access them.    We are also joined by two inspiring apprentices, one current and one former, to talk about their experiences in taking next steps and the ways their parents supported them. Haider Ali is an apprentice at Rolls Royce and Kathryn Monkcom used her apprenticeship to build skills to start her own business – where she is now a careers coach.
	In episode 4 of series 1, Sarah Barley joins Steve to share her advice for parents as a careers leader and expert. Sarah also answers a wide range of questions sent in from parents about how they can support their children in the lead up to results day. We are also joined by Sharon, an amazing apprentice at Channel 4, to talk about her experiences of being an apprentice and what her career journey was like.

'The Parents’ Guide To...' website provides a range of free support for both Parents and Carers of Sixth Form students, as well as those taking GCSEs. It includes guides, useful articles, a Q&A system where we answer questions personally, live chats, and a blog with the latest news. It covers all the important issues Parents and Carers may need help with.  The website can be accessed via this link: www.theparentsguideto.co.uk/parents 

We have summarised these resources below:

Applying to University

Resources to support those applying to university:

1. 'The Parents' Guide to' Personal Statements: Download here
2. Ideas to help teenagers choose the right university course: Read more
3. The 'Ultimate University Shopping List' with links to recommended buys: Download here

Thinking About Apprenticeships

Resources to support teenagers in making a decision about whether Apprenticeships could be the right choice for them:

1. Apprenticeship levels, entry requirements and possible qualifications: Download here
2. Is an Apprenticeship a good choice for all teenagers?: Discover more

Talking About Next Steps With Teenagers

1. Qualification levels from Year 11 to Year 13 - different types of qualifications and where they can lead: Learn more
2. Board game to discuss Post-16 options: Download here
3. Board game to discuss Post 18 options: Download here
4. Virtual Work Experience, with regularly updated opportunities: Discover more
5. Starting a business: Read more

Parents and Carers Guide to Employability Skills

This guide was produced by Success at Schools which is a national careers website for students aged 11-19.  This guide supports Parents and Carers to understand the skills which your child will need to help future- proof their career.  Please click on the image below to access this guide.

Parents and Carers Handbook - Helping your child begin their career journey

As your children progress through school and start looking ahead to a life after education, it can be difficult for Parents and Carers to know how to help them navigate the confusing world of career options. For many, the ultimate challenge is knowing how to offer support without projecting your own career aspirations onto your children. With so much change – from new apprenticeship schemes, emerging technologies, political and environmental upheaval and the coronavirus crisis – Parents and Carers can feel in need of a guiding hand themselves.

This guide contains:

1. Choosing a career path
2. Pathways into work
3. University
4. Apprenticeships
5. Employability skills
6. Subject journeys
7. Gap years
8. How to future-proof your child’s career
9. Action plan

This guide has been created by www.successatschool.org to help you take a positive role in your child’s career journey. You will find a step-by-step guide to help them focus on career paths connected to their skills and interests. Please click on the image to access this publication.

A Guide to Post-16 Career Options for Parents and Carers

This guide produced in partnership with CIPD and the Careers Enterprise Company, is designed to help if you are a parent or carer to a child aged 11 to 24 and are thinking about their future career and what can be done to improve their opportunities.  Please click on the image to download a free copy this publication.

This website has been designed with Parents and Carers in mind.  It covers all areas of careers and offers ideas on how you can support your child on the following:

• Applications and interviews
• Apprenticeships and Training
• Higher Education
• Labour Market Information (LMI)
• Gaining Skills and Experience
• Help & Information
• Making Choices
• All Articles

In keeping with our commitment to provide students with outstanding careers guidance and tailored support when choosing their next step after school, we will now be using Unifrog; an award-winning, online careers platform. All students in Years 7 to 13 now have access to this excellent website.

The Unifrog platform is designed to support learners in making the most informed decisions about their futures and has a range of tools that are suitable for all year groups. Each student has their own personal account that provides a wide range of information related to their interests and aspirations.  Key features of the platform include:

• Exploring Pathways – personality quizzes, career and subject profiles, MOOCs, and webinars
• Recording – self-reflection about extracurricular activities and key employability skills
• Opportunities – search tools showing live vacancies, courses, and placements for universities around the world, virtual work experience and much more
• Applications – tools to help students build applications for a range of pathways (e.g., resumés, Common App Essays, personal statements)

We have also set up parent and carer logins so that you can use Unifrog as if you were a student yourself, allowing you to support your child throughout the process. The sign up code you need is SCNBPARENTS and you can sign up following this LINK.

For more information please refer to:

• www.unifrog.org
• Introduction Video for Parents and Carers