Careers
At Longdean School we seek to help students make informed choices and transitions affecting their future education, training and employment. Specifically, we are concerned with promoting self-awareness, self-development and personal assessment.
It aims to prepare young people for their working lives by enabling them to review previous transitions, their interests, aptitudes and preferred approaches to learning and to identify targets for developing skills to prepare for future choices and transition. The programme enables young people to develop the career management skills of decision-making, action planning and self-presentation.
You can contact Careers at Longdean
Email careers@longdean.herts.sch.uk
Phone 01442 217277 ext 2806
Or book an appointment with the Careers Officer here.
Next review June 2026
Careers Resources
Unifrog
Unifrog brings all the available information, such as Post 16 options and apprenticeship opportunities into one single, impartial, user-friendly platform that helps students to make the best choices, and submit the strongest applications.
They also empower teachers and counselors to manage the progression process effectively.
Unifrog will be used for Year 10 work experience and Year 9 work shadowing placement organisation.
Generation Dacorum Careers Fair
All Year 11 students will attend the Generation Dacorum Careers Fair as part of the school day.
Guidance for Parents/Carers
Parents and carers play a very significant role in helping students to make informed choices about their study options and their future careers. We encourage parents and carers to discuss these with their child and may find information from The National Careers Services beneficial in this.
We welcome parents and carers’ input and recommend that you always attend activities at school such as GCSE and A-Level Options’ evenings. For the most update information on opportunities available to your child please join our social media sites Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly known as Twitter)
Should you wish to discuss your child’s future options please contact their form tutor in the first instance or our Careers Leader, Miss Patel
Key Stage 3
We aim to:
- Develop the skills and confidence needed to make realistic and informed decisions about KS4 courses.
- Develop an understanding of self in relation to future roles and an understanding of work, training and continued education. This will be aided by a Year 9 work shadowing day.
- Improve self-awareness through encouraging the students to review their own interests, aptitude and preferred approaches to learning and preferred subjects.
- Develop an understanding of Equal Opportunities and to understand that every subject and almost every occupation is open to both men and women, but also be aware of the difficulties to overcome in wishing to choose a subject/occupation traditionally regarded as being the preserve of members of the other gender.
- Develop an understanding of the world of work and widen their knowledge of what different jobs entail.
- Increase their awareness of Higher Education Opportunities.
- To develop a transferable skill set that prepares students for the demands of the various workplace skills that may be asked of them in their employment career.
Key Stage 4 and 5
We aim to:
- Develop the skills and confidence to make realistic and informed decisions about their future beyond compulsory schooling.
- Develop the skills necessary to manage the transition from KS4/5 into Sixth Form, College, University, apprenticeships or employment.
- Further develop an understanding of self in relation to future roles and an understanding of the place of work, training and continued education in society.
- Further develop self-awareness and the ability to identify strengths and achievements.
- Support students in understanding how to write a CV and its importance in the interview process. This will be aided by our mock interview programme.
- Encourage research skills so they can find out the information they need to make career choices.
- Explore a career and how some of the key skills are important in particular jobs.
- Increase awareness of patterns of destinations for school leavers at 16 and 18/19 and be aware of local market information. Also, to understand the changing nature of work and highlight local opportunities.
- Encourage the entrepreneurial skills of setting up, running, marketing and advertising a new business.
Next Steps Year 11
Longdean School Sixth Form
For a full list of courses available and how to apply click here.
College
Our local colleges are West Herts College and Oaklands College. To find out more please see the link below:
Apprenticeships:
To find out more about Apprenticeships and to register please check out the National Careers Service website.
Careers Services:
For an appointment with Miss Patel in school click here.
National Careers Services also offers advice and guidance online or on telephone. Please click the link to find out more click here.
Open Evenings
There will be a number of open days available at colleges and universities throughout the country, we have a number of opportunities here for students sent to use by local colleges.
Sixth Form at Longdean
Longdean offers a wide variety of subjects and facilities for students.
As well as supporting their academic achievement, we provide our sixth-formers with opportunities, through our PSHE and tutoring programmes, careers guidance and enrichment activities, to develop skills beyond the classroom that will benefit them later in life.
For more details see Sixth Form which has more details and the curriculum we offer.
Year 9 Work Shadowing
All students in Year 9 are going to be on work shadowing for 1 day on Wednesday 25th March 2026. On this day there will be no classes – all students will be at the workplace of their host employer.
Work experience gives students the chance to learn about what type of job they might enjoy, and develop their CV. We know it can be one of the most transformational experiences young people have during their education.
Students (and their families) should source their own work experience placements. Longdean School will do our best to find placements for any students who have been unable to find their own, but because we have limited resources, we expect to only be able to help a few students.
We are using Unifrog (www.unifrog.org) to manage the administration of the work experience programme – for example collecting information from the employer about their Risk Assessment and Health & Safety policy, as well as getting agreement from yourselves for the placement to go ahead.
Please find the Work Shadowing Guide here.
An example letter that can be sent to possible employers can be found here. Please remember to rewrite the parts highlighted in yellow to make yourself stand out as there may be competition.
Year 10 Work Experience
All students in Year 10 are going to be on work experience for 1 week from Monday 29th June to Friday 3rd July 2026. On this week there will be no classes – all students will be at the workplace of their host employer.
Work experience gives students the chance to learn about what type of job they might enjoy, and develop their CV. We know it can be one of the most transformational experiences young people have during their education.
Students (and their families) should source their own work experience placements. Longdean School will do her best to find placements for any students who have been unable to find their own, but because we have limited resources, we expect to only be able to help a few students.
We are using Unifrog (www.unifrog.org) to manage the administration of the work experience programme – for example collecting information from the employer about their Risk Assessment and Health & Safety policy, as well as getting agreement from yourselves for the placement to go ahead.
Please find the Work Experience Guide here.
An Example letter that can be sent to possible employers can be found here. Please remember to rewrite the parts highlighted in yellow to make yourself stand out as there may be competition.
