20 Steps to setting up a Careers Department

Tasks / To do / Completed
1 / Find out the support you are able to access from Careers Wales.
Find out if any nearby schools have experienced Careers Coordinators who may be willing to give you practicaladvice.
Contact the Curriculum Development Team at your local Careers Wales Company.
Details in the professional section of
2 / Make contact with your line manager or SMT link and keep them involved in your progress.
Ask for CPD - either local or national courses. Most careers companies run a training event to support new coordinators.
3 / Create a week by week or fortnightly planner for the year for each year group.
Put in a prominent place and gradually build up the careers programme.
4 / On the planner highlight events and activities that are already set on the school or college calendar –e.g. holidays, exams, work experience, themed activities, induction / transition activities.
5 / Liaise with your careers adviser to check the topics they will cover in any group sessions they undertake with students and put on the year planner. Discuss arrangements for interviews.
Find your Partnership Agreement with Careers Wales as this will give details of programmes already running and list key personnel.
6 / Liaise with Head of PSE, WRE/ Work Experience, Enterprise and Year Tutors to find out what they include in their programmes or pastoral care programmes.
Check if there are any links you can make with their programme or whether they can support your activities.
In the longer term a whole school audit will provide the information you need.
7 / Identify topics required in a careers programme using the Careers and the World of Work framework.
All documents can be accessed through the professional section of
8 / Identify your preferred teaching styles and source activities that you feel comfortable teaching.
9 / Include a range of learning styles within your programme.
10 / Produce teaching materials.
Include evaluation in your lessons and activities. See also
Remember to contact the Curriculum Development Team at your local Careers Wales Company who can support you.
11 / Organise management and storage of students work
12 / Contact outside agencies who may able to provide speakers for different activities.
Start and maintain an up to list of these contacts and what they can offer.
13 / Build up a network of local contacts working in business, local employers, FE colleges, HE institutions, banks and other organisations which offer their services to schools.
14 / Start to produce a departmental/tutorial handbook. Ask your line manager to help with this as schools and colleges have differing styles and requirements.
There are examples of good practice on in the Supplementary Guidance for Careers and the world of work in Wales (see Professional Section of
As you work through the year you can start to form your scheme of work.
15 / Start to become interested and involved in whole school issues which have an impact on careers; extended work experience, alternative curriculum, 14-19 developments, Learning Pathways, Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification, new Credit and Qualification Framework.
16 / If you have not been involved with the option choices system before you need to have an understanding of the procedure in your school and your programme must prepare students for this.
17 / If you are in an 11-18 school, are you involved with the University application system or preparing for Higher education?
18 / If you are in an 11-18 school, are you involved with preparing students for applying for work?
19 / Are you including any year group activities during the year e.g. work experience preparation, mock interviews, enterprise activities
Make sure that you have a checklist of procedures including risk assessments
Take photographs for displays.
20 / Make sure you have prominent notice boards for displays, job adverts and general information.