Schools and Colleges

Gatsby Benchmarks

At USW we are passionate about supporting your school or college with access to resources that will support with good careers guidance. We are aware all English schools and colleges and many schools and colleges in Wales have already adopted the Gatsby Benchmarks and we have mapped out our sessions alongside the key benchmarks to make your role easier when planning these into your careers guidance programme.

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Our Sessions

Even for those of you who are not using the Gatsby Benchmarks, we feel it gives you a clearer idea of the knowledge and skills your students will be gaining when engaging with USW outreach sessions. Want to enquire or book a session?


The 8 Gatsby Benchmarks

Building our sessions into your careers guidance programme at strategic points throughout the year help you to include high-quality career advice and guidance. 

We are an employer-led university. By this we mean our courses help students develop the skills that are reflected by the demands of the market, and also that our courses are influenced and informed by industry. Check out some of Careers in sessions which provide details not only about our courses but about labour market information, graduate destinations and employment opportunities for graduates. 

Each student will require different career advice and guidance; we ensure we offer Q&A opportunities for students to find the information they really need. Additionally, our widening participation team are on hand to offer a broad range of personalised support for those with additional needs and to promote equality and diversity. 

We run a broad range of subject-specific outreach that can give students an idea of how a course in this area can lead to a career. Check out our Careers in Creative Industries session as an example of this. 

Our sponsored degree programme Network75 will go some way to providing experience in this area. Additionally, we are happy to support with Careers and HE fairs and can provide some suggestions from our own experience on how these might run digitally.

Each student should have the opportunity to experience the world of work first-hand. This will enable students to explore different career pathways and extend their network. We also offer interview support which can be adapted for both university admissions as well as employment.

Although we are unable to host you on campus at present, we have an exciting and broad digital offer of both IAG and subject-specific support. We use a range of interactive tools to ensure students feel they can really engage with HE. 

We can offer 1 to 1 or small group Personal Statement support and guidance. This is impartial support to support students in developing the best Personal Statement for them. This also gives you more time to support those who are considering other pathways. 
Presentations and Workshops Gatsby Benchmarks
Why Higher Education? 2, 7
Making the Right Choices 1 ,2, 3, 4, 7
Writing a Personal Statement 3, 7
The UCAS Process 1, 7
UCAS Apply Online Workshop 3, 7
HE within the FE Sector 2, 3, 7
Applying for Nursing and Midwifery 2, 4, 7
Student Finance 2, 3, 7
Student Life 3, 7
Impressing at Interviews 2, 3, 5, 7
Preparing for Future Careers 2 ,3, 4, 7
Network75 - Work, Earn and Learn 2, 3, 5, 7