We want Beths students to . .
be empowered
achieve within the world of work
have successful, rewarding and fulfilling careers
be motivated and happy to engage with the challenges of life.
Careers in Key Stage 3
Year 9 Option choices, April/May: What’s the relationship between options and careers? Equipping our students to understand what is right for them as an individual and the flexibility of their choices. In a changing work market, we will share insights on what employers are looking for, how jobs will change in the future, and how they can be prepared going forward.
Careers Spotlight Form time activities throughout the academic year for years 8 and 9, encouraging engagement with Unifrog.
Careers in Key Stage 4
Student Voice - Careers Survey and Careers Prefects
As the students begin years 10 and 11 we encourage them to share their views about careers and aspirations for the future in our Careers Surveys. The results of these surveys, combined with strategic discussions with the Head of Year and Key Stage 4 Co-ordinator, allow us to reflect the interests of the students and their aspirations for the future, whilst broadening their horizons with alternative opportunities. The Careers Junior Prefects are a group of year 11 students who work with the Careers Team.
Careers Guidance
We have two trained Careers Advisers from Prospects who run 1-1 guidance interviews with our year 10 and year 11 students.
Careers in Key Stage 5
Information and Guidance
The Careers team shares key information and resources with the Sixth Form, to students to help them make informed choices. We do this in a variety of ways but one of the main ones is via the Careers channel on Teams. This is updated all the time with information that we receive from universities and career companies and covers a wide range of topics including open days, apprenticeship opportunities, employability tips and events. When required, the Prospects Careers Adviser advises Sixth Form students on potential pathways and concerns.
Student Voice – Careers Survey
We have a large number of external students who start Beths in Year 12, and our Careers Survey gives us the opportunity to discover their career and post-18 aspirations. The most popular careers identified were medicine, law, economics, banking and finance. Engineering, particularly software engineering was frequently mentioned, as was computer science.
Trips, talks and events
Careers Fair
Fantastic fair, learnt a lot, gained new passions for different subjects and planning for my future (Year 9 student)
On Thursday 11 July we held our fantastic Careers Fair. Students from years 9, 10 and 12 had the opportunity to speak with a wide variety of companies, universities and higher education providers.
Universities and education providers: Aberdeen, Arts, Bath, Birmingham, City, Durham, East Anglia, Essex, Exeter, Greenwich, Imperial, Goldsmiths, Kent, Lancaster, Leicester, Liverpool, Loughborough, Nottingham, Portsmouth, Royal Holloway, Southampton, Surrey, Warwick, plus TEDI (The Engineering and Design Institute), Institute of Engineers, and Royal Veterinary, London South East and North West Kent Colleges.
From our exhibitors . . .
Brilliant, busy event!
Impressed at how well the younger years engaged!
Students were fantastic, polite and ambitious.
We loved the quiet hour for the SEN students and that some came prepared with questions as this helped them overcome nerves and have a starting point for discussion.
What our students learned . . .
When to start applying for apprenticeships at the companies. (Roman, Year 12)
I learned about how to prepare myself for the apprenticeship application program, e.g interviews and CV advice (Harshaan, Year 12)
There are many different career paths you could take after a levels (Theo, Year 9)
What UCAS points are and how significant they are in University life.(Kushi, Year 10)
To have personality as well as grades (Jack, Year 9)
I broadened my options for universities and explored outside of London (Jason, Year 12)
Dr Neil Gostling - a Career in Biology
Dr Neil Gostling is a former Beths student, who is now an Associate Professor at the University of Southampton where he lectures in Evolution and Palaeobiology. On 21 June he spoke with our Year 12 Biology students and their reflections are below:
Dr Neil Gostling, a lecturer in evolution and paleobiology and former Beths student, gave a captivating presentation to our A-level biology class about his research at University of Southampton. This gave us an inside view of what its like to be a university biology student and the many pathways that can be taken in relation to this subject, such as biomedicine, microbiology and neuroscience. His talk linked closely to the content in topic 4 of our A-level
course, including how organisms face certain selection pressures e.g. climate change and this forces them to evolve, as well as ways in which dinosaurs were adapted to their environment. One group of dinosaurs in particular, spinorsaurids, hunted prey in water so developed nostrils that were higher in order to breathe during this process. There is also debate over whether they are fully aquatic, reflecting how some research conflicts others. At the end of the presentation he took many questions from students and was open to sharing more about his background and impressive education, as well as his former ambitions of studying medicine. Overall, he was extremely friendly and equipped us with extremely valuable knowledge that can be transferred towards our understanding of certain aspects of biology, as well as choosing the university course best suited for us. - Keira C, Year 12
On Friday 21st June Dr Neil J. Gostling, an ex-Beths student, gave a talk to our class on life as an academic in the biological field and his research in Palaeobiology. He is currently an Associate Professor at University of Southampton specialising in Evolutionary Biology, Palaeobiology and Molecular Biology. The talk linked concepts in class which we have recently been studying such as speciation (the formation of new and distinct species through evolution) with his own research on Spinosaurus dinosaurs. Through detailed analysis he explained how different members of the Spinosaurus family can be identified and in even some cases named new for science discoveries. One identifying feature was the specimens teeth, as Theropod teeth differ in their ratios of base length to crown height, in their degree of curvature, their surface texture, in the distribution, shape, proportional size and spacing of their serrations and many other characteristics. This allowed for himself and fellow researchers to produce a projected family tree of different specimens he has worked on. Overall, the talk was very inspiring as it gave me and class insight into implementation of concepts into a more specialised fields and what it is like to pursue a career in zoology. - Daniel N Year 12
Dr Gostling with Head of Science, Mr Ramessar, who taught him as a student at Beths.
Adam Graham – a Career in Medicine
Our Sixth Form students recently had an incredible opportunity to engage with a practicing doctor, Adam Graham. The session offered students a first-hand look into the medical world, the daily routines of a doctor, and the rigorous and rewarding journey of studying medicine at university. Adam Graham is a medical doctor based at Guy’s and St Thomas’ in London with an interest in hospital medicine and integrated community care models. He is also involved with undergraduate and post graduate medical education and was a Clinical Teaching Fellow of Physiology at Barts and the London Hospitals.
Bromley Healthcare
Bromley Healthcare are developing a new official public health website for 11-19 year olds in Bexley and Bromley. The website is being made with, for and by young people. Some of our students have already worked on the design of the website, and some of our aspiring medics worked on the content, identifying key health topics, discussing effective communication strategies, ensuring fact-checking of health topics and creating their own article, blog, interview or factsheet about a specific topic.
UCAS Discovery Event, 19 March
All year 12 students attended the UCAS Discovery Event at ExCel London. This was an incredible opportunity for our students to talk to over 170 universities, as well as some apprenticeship providers and employers.
This event was useful for gaining more insight into pathways that open up after sixth form and really helped me to expand my options for what I really want to do post-18. I was able to speak to universities and find out more about entry requirements, university life, accommodation, and how courses are divided e.g. work-life balances and specifications. (Henry, 12C1)
This experience reminded me of the hard work it takes to make it into these top universities and degree apprenticeship programs. I also learnt valuable tips on how to complete a successful personal statement. (Gift, 12E2)
There were a lot more universities that I was interested in than I thought. I also now have a better understanding of what grades I need to do what I want. (Asia, 12C2).
Bromley Public Health, 13 March 2024
Former Beths Head Girl Maddie Smith is currently studying for a degree apprenticeship within Bromley Public Health, and is working with Bexley Council on a health website for young people. Over two sessions, some Year 12 students gave their invaluable feedback to the web designers focusing on design and content development, as well as public health/healthcare messaging and information for the users. It was a great opportunity for our students to be part of the co-design team for an NHS project whilst building valuable team building skills.
National Careers Week, 4-8th March
National Careers Week is a celebration of careers guidance and free resources in education across the UK and during the week all assemblies focussed on career journeys, next steps and opportunities.
Students in Year 7, 8 and 9 designed posters about their favourite job in their Art lessons. The entries were judged by the Art teachers, Careers Team, Heads of Year 7, 8 and 9, and Deputy Headteacher Mr Jones. The standard was incredible and there were so many excellent entries that it was really difficult to choose the winners.
Oto 7W – Environmental Lawyer – 1st place
Faeq O 8B – Motorsport Engineer – 1st place
Callum L 9H – Forensic Scientist – 1st place
Year 13 students and University of Leicester, 6 March 2024
Dr Alisha Mohindre from the University of Leicester gave an informative talk about Preparing for University to all our Year 13 students who have applied to UCAS. Dr Mohindre is the UK Student Recruitment Officer at the university, and has a PhD in Chemistry from Leicester, so she has first-hand experience of university life. Topics included managing money: looking for scholarship opportunities and some budgeting tips, with details about part-time employment, as well as choosing the accommodation that suits you and travel options. She also addressed the importance of support and wellbeing when starting university, and the many social opportunities that university provides.
Year 11 and post-16 pathways, March 2024
It’s important that students are aware of the variety of options available to them at different points of their school journey. Although many of our students stay on at Beths to study A levels, and then look to apply to university, this is not the only pathway available and the A level – university route is not suitable for all students, depending on their interests and aspirations. In March representatives from London South East and North Kent Colleges spoke with students from Year 11 about post-16 options, including T levels, Apprenticeships and BTECs.
National Apprenticeship Week, 5-9 February 2024
Apprenticeships are an increasingly popular pathway for our students. Apprenticeships are 80% work and 20% study and are a partnership between an employer and a training provider like a university. A degree apprenticeship gives students the opportunity to gain a paid-for degree while getting industry experience and earning a salary. They are available in lots of industries, from hands-on fields like engineering to more office-based roles like business administration, finance, and law. Find out more about apprenticeships Beths Grammar School - Apprenticeships
During National Apprenticeship Week (5-9 February) all year groups explored apprenticeships in PSHCE, form times and assemblies. On Wednesday 7 February we held our first Apprenticeship Fair. Almost 200 Sixth Form students and parents were able to speak with employers offering apprenticeships in a variety of sectors. Former students representing Morgan Stanley, Glaxo Smith Kline, Bromley Healthcare, Keltbray, EY, IBM and Deloitte were able to share their knowledge of the pathway they took from Beths to their apprenticeships with the next generation of Beths Scholars. The Sixth Form students discussed work experience opportunities with local and national firms, including Baily Garner, Balfour Beatty, JGF Electrical, CIS Security, Frankham Consulting and BP.
Harry Henderson, Architect, 26 January 2024
Former student, Harry Henderson, made a return to School to share his experiences of training to be an Architect. Harry, now a Part II Architectural Assistant at Studio Egret West, spoke to Year 12 Art and DT students and gave them an insight into the world of Architecture.
Green Careers Week (6th-10th November 2023)
The Engineering and Design Institute
In October 2023 The Engineering and Design Institute London invited some of our 6th form students to a tour of their facilities and campus in Canada Water, followed by an engineering activity.
