Our Careers Programme  

At The Ongar Academy, we are committed to preparing our students for successful futures. Our careers programme provides high-quality, impartial guidance and meaningful opportunities for all students to explore the world of work, further education, and training.

Our Vision

We aim to inspire ambition, broaden horizons, and empower every student to make informed decisions about their future. Careers education is embedded throughout the curriculum and supported by a wide range of enrichment activities.

Guided by the Gatsby Benchmarks

Our careers provision is structured around the Gatsby Benchmarks, a nationally recognised framework for excellence in careers education:

1. A stable careers programme

2. Learning from career and labour market information

3. Addressing the needs of each pupil

4. Linking curriculum learning to careers

5. Encounters with employers and employees

6. Experiences of workplaces

7. Encounters with further and higher education

8. Personal guidance

What Students Can Expect

From Year 7 to Year 11, students benefit from a progressive careers curriculum that includes:

• Employer talks and workplace visits

• College and university outreach

• Apprenticeship and vocational pathway guidance

• Interactive workshops and assemblies

• One-to-one careers interviews

• Support with applications, CVs, and interview preparation

Working in Partnership

We collaborate with local employers, colleges, universities, and training providers to ensure our students have access to up-to-date, relevant information and opportunities.

Our Goal

To help every young person develop the skills, knowledge, and resilience needed to thrive in an ever-changing world.

Unifrog 

Guide to Unifrog – The Complete Careers & Destinations Platform

At The Ongar Academy, we use Unifrog to support students in making informed decisions about their future. Unifrog is an award-winning online platform that brings together all the available careers, university, apprenticeship, and college information into one easy-to-use place.

What is Unifrog?

Unifrog helps students explore their interests, research career pathways, and plan their next steps. It’s designed to support every stage of the journey – from discovering options to preparing applications.

Key Features of Unifrog

• Careers Library – Explore hundreds of career profiles, including salary info, required qualifications, and typical duties.

• Subject Library – Discover how different school subjects link to future careers.

• Personality & Interests Quizzes – Find out what careers and pathways suit your strengths and preferences.

• Post-16 & Post-18 Options – Compare sixth forms, colleges, universities, apprenticeships, and vocational routes.

• CV & Personal Statement Builder – Create professional documents with step-by-step guidance.

• Application Tracker – Keep track of your applications and deadlines.

• Live Opportunities – Search for apprenticeships, university courses, and work experience placements.

Who Can Use It?

All students at The Ongar Academy from Year 7 to Year 11 have access to Unifrog. Parents and carers can also request login details to explore the platform alongside their child.

Unifrog Login Click Here 

The Unifrog Tools 

Careers Library

• Over 1000 career profiles
• Presents information from a range of sources
• Includes qualifications and skills needed, interviews with industry professionals and labour market information
• Explores progression opportunities and what a working week really looks like

UK Universities

• Students can enter subjects of interest and projected grades to see all relevant university courses available in the UK
• Rank and filter opportunities by factors like hours of lectures, price of accommodation and graduate job rates
• Get direct links to university information pages, with impartial information on courses and institutions
• Save unlimited shortlists to refer back to later

Apprenticeships

• Students can find live apprenticeship vacancies
• Vacancies are updated daily
• Rank and filter opportunities by factors like distance from home, weekly wage and application deadlines
• Direct link to the ‘apply’ page
• Each apprenticeship vacancy includes practical information about the opportunity, employer and training
• Save unlimited shortlists to refer back to later

Special Opportunities

• Includes £5 million-worth of grants, bursaries, scholarships, contextual offers and extracurricular activities
• These can be filtered by circumstances or characteristics, depending on the access requirements of the opportunity
• Includes direct links for applying
• Unlimited shortlists can be created and referred back to

Labour Market Information

Labour Market Information (LMI) is a useful tool to help research future jobs in the local area, understand the skills needed for certain roles and the demand for future employment.

LMI helps to break down the complex ‘world of work’.  Crucially for young people, LMI covers future demand – what kinds of jobs will be in demand after leaving school and what kinds of skills will be needed.  Labour market information tells you:

• Which jobs are likely to be easiest or hardest to find in your area
• Which are the big employers in different areas and which ones have jobs on offer
• What skills employers are looking for and which are in short supply
• How much you can expect to be paid in specific jobs
• What working conditions are like
• What qualifications will be most helpful if you want a certain career
• What the jobs of the future might look like and which jobs might disappear

All of these factors can help young people make a more informed decision about what career path to take.

Industries with a growing number of employment opportunities in Essex:

Essex Opportunities 

Careers Directory

Use the careers directory to research different sectors, understand the main tasks within job roles and average salaries, learn about which qualifications you should consider studying and explore the current job and apprenticeship vacancies in Essex and Southend. 

Career Directory

Links to other policies:

• Child Protection Policy  
• Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) Policy 

Destinations of our pupils 

Last year our year 11 pupils moved to range of providers in the local area after  

school:  

Management of provider access requests procedure 

A provider wishing to request access should contact: 

communications@theongaracademy.org

Safeguarding

Our safeguarding on policy outlines the school’s procedure for checking the identity and suitability of visitors. Education and training providers will be expected to adhere to this policy. 

Premises and facilities 

The school will make the Theatre, the Sports Hall or Fitness Centre, classrooms or meeting rooms available for discussions between the provider and students, as appropriate to the activity. The school will also make available audio and visual specialist equipment to support provider presentations where needed. This will all be discussed and agreed in advance of the visit with the careers leader or a member of their team. Providers are welcome to leave a copy of their prospectus or other relevant course literature for the careers sections in the school library , which are managed by the school librarian. These resources are available to all students at lunch and break times.

Complaints 

Any complaints with regards to provider access can be raised following the school complaints procedure.

Monitoring arrangements 

The school’s arrangements for managing the access of education and training providers to students are monitored by The Careers Leader. This policy will be reviewed by The Careers Leader annually. At every review, the policy will be approved by the governing board. 

Careerometer 

Careers Lead 

Mrs N Foster 

Useful Links