Top 6 careers resources for teachers & careers advisors

If you’re anything like us, you’re always on the lookout for new resources to help you embed careers into the classroom – so we thought we’d pull together some of our favourites to share with you.

This isn’t a ranking – each site offers something unique which we think will be of value to you in a different way. We’ve outlined what each of these careers resources does and suggested an activity for you to use in the classroom.

So let’s take a look at the top careers resources for teachers and careers advisors out there…

1. Success at School

Naturally, we’re kicking off with our favourite resource – us! Seriously though, we have a whole host of online and print materials to help you embed careers into the classroom and meet the Gatsby benchmarks. Find industry outlines in our Career Zones, career profiles in our Jobs A-Z, and in-depth articles on a host of topics in our advice section. Check out our online shop for posters and guides linking careers to 19 school subjects, as well as apprenticeships and university.

Our email newsletters are packed with apprenticeship opportunities as well as unique advice, tailored exclusively for teachers/careers advisors, students and parents – sign up here!

Until 28th June 2024, we’re also giving away free Gatsby Subject Guides to schools who have over 100 new students sign up to our network (find out more) 📚

Classroom activity: Ask students to use the search function on our Jobs A-Z to find a role they are interested in pursuing, then use our employability skills section to research how they can develop one skill required for that role inside and outside the classroom.

Unique features: In-depth advice on a wide range of career-related topics
Key links: Career Zones, Jobs A-Z, Advice, Email newsletter signup form

2. National Career Service

The government’s National Career Service features a compendium of job profiles covering 25 industries. The information here isn’t as detailed as the profiles in our own Jobs A-Z, but as an official resource it has the benefit of being linked up with the government’s Find An Apprenticeship and Find A Course services – which means you can view current opportunities available on each job profile page.

Classroom activity: Ask students to find a job they are interested in pursuing for which apprenticeships are listed in the ‘Current opportunities’ section further down the page. They should view one live opportunity and look at the ‘Requirements and prospects’ section of the job ad, note down the requirements they lack and come up with steps they could take to meet these requirements.

Unique features: Links job profiles to live opportunities
Key links: Explore careers

3. BBC Teach: Secondary Careers

BBC Teach: Secondary Careers organises the BBC’s careers resources by age group – KS3 and GCSE. These video resources are great for forming the basis of a careers session. There are several playlists, but we particularly like the Apprentice for a Day series, which comprises minidocumentaries following apprentices working in six different roles.

Classroom activity: Pick an Apprentice for a Day film and show it to your students, to give them a sense of what a day in the life of an apprentice is actually like. Then ask students to choose a live opportunity which appeals to them on Find An Apprenticeship. Based on the job description and what they have gleaned from watching the video, ask them to write a brief first-person account imagining themselves in that apprenticeship role for a day.

Unique features: Video documentaries following individual apprentices
Key links: Apprentice for a Day

4. What do graduates do?

Prospects Luminate’s annual What do graduates do? report is an invaluable resource for understanding employment outcomes resulting from different university degree courses. This can help you steer students towards the right degree course if they have a particular career path in mind and are keen to go to university instead of doing an apprenticeship.

Classroom activity: Ask students to think about the employment industry they would like to go into, and pick three university subjects linked to that industry in the report. GCSE students should then look at university websites to research the typical entry requirements for these degree courses and write down the A-levels/equivalent they need in order to meet the course requirements. If there’s time, ask students what they think about the pathway to studying these subjects? Does it seem realistic and/or appealing?

Unique features: Data linking university degrees to employment outcomes
Key links: What do graduates do?

5. Institute for Apprenticeships

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) lists all of the apprenticeship programmes approved for delivery. You can filter the index by level, industry (‘route’) and status (‘approved for delivery’, ‘in development’ etc). This is a great resource as you can see every apprenticeship option open to your students – although it’s worth bearing in mind that these are standards employers are allowed to deliver, but they may not all be available as current opportunities.

Classroom activity: Ask students to use the filters and search function to find a standard they are interested in. The language is a bit technical, so they should focus on standard title and summary at the top of the page. Students should then visit Find An Apprenticeship and see if they can find opportunities equivalent or similar to the standard they were drawn to. What steps do they need to take to qualify for this opportunity, based on the entry requirements?

Unique features: Lists every apprenticeship standard approved for delivery
Key links: Apprenticeship standards approved for delivery

6. NHS Health Careers

NHS Health Careers has a hub of resources for careers advisors and teachers – making it a great place to find material to introduce your students to the 350 career paths within the NHS. Resources include a quiz to help students decide which role they may be best suited to, job descriptions outlining duties and requirements, and a course finder pointing students towards programmes to help them qualify. There are also guides for teachers and careers advisors and resources for different age groups.

Classroom activity: Ask students to take the five-minute health careers quiz, then use the explore roles tool to find the career pathway/s the quiz recommended and research the entry requirements for these roles. Students should write down the academic choices they need to make to qualify for this role. If there’s time, students should look on the course finder to identify a specific programme relevant to the job role they have identified.

Unique features: Information on how to qualify for all 350 job roles within the NHS
Key links: Health careers quiz, Explore roles, Course finder

We hope you find our top careers resources useful – if there are others that you find useful in planning your careers sessions, please let us know at team@successatschool.org and we will try to add them to the list.

Remember to sign up for our free careers updates here.