Careers Extravaganza
Following the success of last year, the King’s School Worcester hosted a Careers Extravaganza during National Careers Week 2024 for both King’s School students and those from the wider Worcestershire community.
Following overwhelming interest from the local business community, the event, ran over four afternoons opening pupils’ eyes to a plethora of career options and pathways. Not only did we have numerous businesses and professionals attending, but we also welcomed a number of truly inspirational business leaders to a series of seminars running alongside each afternoon.
Each afternoon had a different focus as follows:
1) Careers within STEM
2) Careers within Business and the Creative Industries
The event was attended by over 250 people each afternoon with a total of over 500 tickets issued across the two events.
Aims
The aim of the King's Careers Extravaganza was to provide pupils not only from the King's community, but those from across Worcestershire with the opportunity to explore a plethora of different careers options.
There are a number of careers fairs run within Worcestershire, these predominantly focus on next educational steps i.e. University places and Apprenticeships. The King's Careers Extravaganza aimed to leap frog this stage and open pupils eyes to the jobs they might like to consider, to give them an opportunity to talk with experienced professional and discover how they reached the positions they are currently in before they can then consider the educational path they may take to reach their own goals.
The beneficiaries of the event were those pupils that attended.
Background
The Careers Extravaganza was born out of a recognition at King's Worcester that pupils are often well informed on university courses and apprenticeship options but don't have a full picture of what jobs / careers they may wish to explore or have access to a wide range of professionals to talk to.
The event started in March 2023 with a further series of events delivered for National Careers Week 2024 in March. Future events are also in the pipeline for 2025.
Resources
The physical resources required to ensure the success of the Careers Extravaganza included King's School Worcester facilities as well as those of Worcester Cathedral. Without the physical space to host an event of this size the event would not have been possible.
However, the most important element of the Careers Extravaganza in terms of resource was that of the local business volunteers. Whilst some of these had been gained through the Old Vigornian (Alumni) network and the King's School Worcester parent community others were simply local businesses. In total 50 businesses exhibited for a period of 2 hours.
The event was financially supported by King's Worcester.
Impact
A questionnaire was circulated via email to all of those who attended the Careers Extrvaganza 2023 with a limited response received. Responses indicated that:
1) 18% of those that attended were not pupils at King's Worcester. This would indicate that around 83 of the 460 tickets issued were to external pupils.
2) 78% are currently in the Sixth Form, with the remaining 22% in Year 10 and 11.
3) 77% felt that exhibitors answered all of their questions with 57% finding all of the information they required.
4) Many suggested other career areas that they would like to see at future events.
It is anticipated that a survey of this type will be carried out after each event.
Pupil Involvement
Pupils attending the event ranged from Year 6 to Year 13. Of the 500 tickets issued, around a fifth of these were to local state school pupils.
Frequency
The Careers Extravaganza was launched in March 2023 with a subsequent event taking place in March 2024. It is anticipated that this will become an annual event with a similar event planned for March 2025.
