UCAS and Careers

"I'm so fortunate and so grateful to have attended HWSF, truly. Best school ever!"

Salma Amin, going to study History at Cambridge

Vision 

The aim of Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance at Harris Westminster Sixth Form is to expose students to a wide range of opportunities for their next steps, ensuring that students who study here are open-minded about their education and careers, and are exceptionally well prepared for the next steps without developing a merely transactional relationship with their education. Harris Westminster Sixth Form students are taught to follow their passions, and value opportunities sometimes precisely because they don’t know where they will lead them. 

We focus on the Gatsby benchmarks to ensure that students receive good career guidance: 

1. A stable careers programme 
2. Learning from career and labour market information 
3. Addressing the needs of each pupil 
4. Linking curriculum learning to careers 
5. Encounters with employers and employees 
6. Experiences of workplaces 
7. Encounters with further and higher education 
8. Personal guidance 

In addition to these benchmarks, the provider access legislation (occasionally referred to as the 'Baker Clause') requires all schools and academies to provide opportunities for a range of education and training providers to access all year 8 to 13 pupils to inform them about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships. The careers programme outlined ensures that Harris Westminster Sixth Form complies with the school’s legal obligations under Section 42B of the Education Act 1997. 

 

Roles and responsibilities 

The Assistant Principal with responsibility for Post-18 options at Harris Westminster Sixth Form is Mr. James Johnson. Mr. Johnson can be contacted via email at j.johnson@harriswestminstersixthform.org.uk or via the main academy reception on 0203 772 4555.

Mr. Richard Greenberg is our Careers and Universities Lead, working closely with Mr. Johnson to design our Careers programme. Students at Harris Westminster Sixth Form are all given the chance to work with highly experienced Careers Advisors, Ms. Linda Gibbens and Ms. Natalie Phillips, who work across the federation. They offer bespoke and personalised careers guidance and advice. Students across year groups have access to careers advisers, through 1:1 interviews at some point before the end of Year 12. 

 

Mr Johnson

 

 

 

 

Mr Greenberg

 

Post-18 Options in the School Day 

The following events and activities are part of the school day at Harris Westminster Sixth Form, and ensure that students are consistently exposed to a range of options and opportunities for after their time at Sixth Form. 

Lab Lectures	Every Tuesday, students can attend a lecture given by guest speakers drawn from a wide range of sectors, including academic employment. In this way, students have opportunities to encounter employers and further and higher education providers.
Whole School Assemblies	Every Monday, students attend assemblies which emphasise skills such as teamwork, resilience, lifelong learning, time management and leadership as well as critical values such as including integrity, emotional intelligence, diversity and inclusion. There is regular promotion of the opportunities that HWSF offer beyond the curriculum, and the value of taking these opportunities.
Academic Societies	All students participate in academic societies, and must present to their peers about topics beyond the A-Level curriculum. In doing so, they develop their skills in communication, initiative, critical thinking and leadership, and make links between their academic subjects and the real world, whether that be employment or further academic study.  Societies also often invite sector-specific speakers to come and present to their group.
Extracurricular Clubs and Student Leadership	All students are encouraged to set up their own clubs and societies, and so develop leadership, management and organisation skills that employers value. Outside of these, students are encouraged to put themselves forward for leadership roles, such as the Library Committee, the Sports Committee, House leadership and the Senate. All of these leadership roles have an application process including a formal interview.
Cultural Perspectives (Y12 only)	Some of the Cultural Perspectives programmes are linked to careers and employment (e.g. Art for Scientists, Quantum Chemistry, Introduction to Plasma Physics, Impact of Computer Software, Financial Markets etc.) and all of them require the students to develop skills such as critical thinking, personal development, and lifelong learning.
Opportunities OneNote	Every week, teachers and other school staff compile a list of opportunities for students to explore. These can range from supercurricular opportunities to careers events, work experience placements and everything in between.
Careers Café	Starting in Remembrance 2, students will be able to attend a Monday lunchtime series of careers talks from professionals across a range of sectors. These take place in the extended lunchtime, so can be attended by all students, and the programme is contributed to by all of our faculties.
PSHCE	Our PSHCE curriculum covers the theme ‘Living in the Wider World – UCAS' in Year 12, and ‘Post-18 pathways’, ‘Living in the Wider World’ and ‘Preparing for University’ in Year 13.
Careers Fair	Every July we hold a Careers Fair, where students have meaningful, in-depth interactions from employers and apprenticeship providers from a range of different sectors. This event is followed by a networking event. At the 2025 Careers Fair, we had over 50 speakers attend.

 

Support for applications to UK Universities 

All students are assigned a UCAS mentor, who is a teacher at the school and who provides them with bespoke guidance around their choices, personal statements, and access to contextual offers. In addition to this, there is a specific UCAS-focused lab lecture in Year 12, to guide students through the process of applying to university, and introducing them to Unifrog, which is made available to all students.  

In addition to this provision, students applying for Oxford, Cambridge and Medical and Veterinary degree courses are offered support in preparing for the application process through mock admissions tests, mock interviews, and University Preparation Classes, which both help demystify entrance examinations and help students expand their hinterlands to really stand out in interviews.

 

Support for access and applications to Degree Level Apprenticeships 

Students applying for Degree Level Apprenticeships have access to all of the centralised Harris Federation apprenticeship events through Pathway CTM. On top of this, the school provides bespoke 1:1 support for students applying for apprenticeships. This academic year, our aim is to improve the sector-specific support we offer to bring it in line with the support given to Oxbridge degree applicants.

 

Support for applications to overseas universities   

Students are given information about overseas applications through PSHCE in Year 12. Over recent years, we have also welcomed representatives from Columbia, Princeton, and the University of Toronto to present to students, and students from 2024-25 went on to destinations as diverse as Duke, UC Berkley and McGill in Canada.  

Once applicants to overseas universities are identified, the school supports students applying through writing Common App references, providing academic transcripts and school context sheets.

 

Links with higher education providers 

As well as encountering higher-education providers through Lab Lectures, the school gives all students the opportunity to learn about a wide range of higher education providers through other avenues as well. We have run trips to UK universities – notably to Oxbridge – but are looking to widen the range of these for 2023-24. Additionally, all students are invited to lectures from representatives of a wide range of UK universities, for them to promote universities that students do not typically apply for. In recent years, for example, students will have the chance to attend lectures by the Admissions Officers of Exeter University and Queen’s Belfast, for them to promote scholarships and contextual offers to attract students to their institutions. 

Additionally, all Year 12 students are offered a place on at least one university trip. Last year, we took groups of 100+ students to Oxford, Cambridge and Southampton.

 

Alumni 

Harris Westminster Sixth Form actively cultivates links with its alumni, who are doing a wide range of exciting things. As well as using this network for bespoke advice for students who may need it – for example, because they are thinking of following a path that one of our alumni are pursuing – as well as involving them in our Lab Programme, Careers Fair and Monday Careers Café.

 

Work Experience

We expect all of our students to complete Work Experience over the course of Year 12, and encourage them to be proactive in finding work experience which is challenging, rewarding and linked to their post-18 plans. Students have several key moments in Year 12 where they can find work experience, such as the two-week October Half Term and our longer summer break.

We give enhanced support to key groups of students to secure work experience placements, and offer guidance for those who are finding it hard, cultivating links with work experience providers in order to do so. Please click here for some information on work experience and predicted grades. 

 

Post-18 Destinations

Our students go on to a range of exciting opportunities after leaving Harris Westminster Sixth Form. See the information below for a more detailed breakdown. 

Type	Places 2025	Places 2024	Places 2023
Oxbridge	43	43	44
Imperial	22	6	5
Russell Group Universities	234	195	177
Medicine	27	35	20
Dentistry	3	1	0
Veterinary Science	0	0	3
Degree Level Apprenticeships	3	5	11
US Universities	4	4	2

 

How can parents and carers help? 

We are always looking to generate opportunities for our students, so they are better equipped to enter their chosen future pathways. Can you, or someone you know, support with our work-related learning programme of events this coming year? This could be help with work experience, career talks, networking events, mock interviews or any other support that would be of value to students. If so, please contact us via email at j.johnson@harriswestminstersixthform.org.uk 

 

Information for Employers

We often host employer visits and insight days, and facilitate a wide range of employer encounters for our students in a number of ways, and we also host a Careers Fair in July each year. If your company is interested in visiting us for any of these events, or if you would be interested in hosting one of our students for work experience, please contact us via email at j.johnson@harriswestminstersixthform.org.uk.