Careers


Dear Parents and Carers


As your child prepares to embark on their GCSE studies, we recognise the excellent grounding you can provide them with regards to advice on future careers which would suit them well. In turn, the Department for Education can provide you with recommendations on the combination of subject options which can future-proof your child regardless of the confidence they may or may not have in their future career plans. The Career Pilot Parent Zone also provides a comprehensive guide to aiding your child in making this and other decisions in their time in education, with a view to ensuring they are well equipped for future careers. 


Yours sincerely


Mr H Arkill - Teacher of English and Careers Lead

cdscareers@croxleydanes.herts.sch.uk

Plotting your career path

This is the first juncture in your school career at which you have been required to make decisions which will have a significant impact on your future. Whilst it is understandable that many students will remain uncertain about their future career plans in year 9, it is certainly important that you are aware of the significance your GCSE option choices can have in setting you on a path towards your future studies and ultimately, the rewarding future careers that we envision for all of our students at Croxley Danes School. 


You are no strangers to information and guidance on careers. Thus far in KS3 you have partaken in work experience, engaged with careers and enterprise workshops and begun to delve into the world of Unifrog - the best-in-class careers platform which your school email grants you access to, in school and at home. Now it is important that you hone in on how the subjects you select from your available options at GCSE can impact on your future careers. 

Making informed decisions

If you have no pre-existing ideas about which career paths interest you but a sense of which GCSE subjects you might like to take, explore the Career Pilot subject page. This will allow you to see which careers different subjects can lead to and inform your options-choices appropriately with career opportunities in mind. 


Alternatively, start by establishing which careers suit your aptitudes and interests and then establish which GCSE subjects are relevant to and complement your chosen careers plans in order to ensure you can realise these ambitions. In order to ascertain what kind of work environment you would be appropriate for, take the Unifrog personality quiz. Every student in year 9 has access to the Unifrog platform. Use your school email to enter the platform and explore the range of quizzes, activities and careers information provided, all geared towards ensuring students are able to determine what it is that they want to do in their future careers. Your engagement with the platform is tracked to ensure that any conversations with staff in school can be tailored to the interests you have expressed through your time on Unifrog. Alternatively, the National Careers Service skills assessment takes no longer than ten minutes to complete and outlines relevant careers advice based on an evaluation of your skills and personality traits. 


Having garnered a sense of the careers you are apt for and interested in, click on the following link to explore a range of careers and the GCSE subjects required to access them - What GCSEs should I take to become a…? 


Insights into the day-to-day workings of careers in all industries can found on the National Careers Service website and their accompanying YouTube page as well as on the icould website and Unifrog.

Labour Market information - Watford & Three Rivers

Your ambitions for your future career may also be influenced by changing local and national data on the Labour Market - a measure of the supply and demand of jobs in the UK. Again, use this information to establish careers you find appealing and work backwards to understand which GCSEs you are required to take to establish a career in a chosen industry. The region-specific data below provides insight into which jobs are most common and most in-demand in our local area. 


Explore the information on Watford and Three Rivers on the Hertfordshire Opportunities Portal. 

Careers Advice - Additional resources