Student Progression Service
Careers Entitlement Statement
The College is committed to ensuring that high quality, timely, accurate and impartial careers education, information advice and guidance is provided to support people to make informed decisions. This involves making realistic choices about future plans and developing skills to prepare for progression into further study or employment.
View our Careers Strategic Plan here
Careers Education, Information, Advice & Guidance (CEIAG), Work Placements & Employability Skills
Starting college opens up a world of opportunities, but you don’t need to have your whole future planned out just yet. At Bishop Auckland College Group, our Student Progression Team is here to help you explore your options, discover different career paths and work out what your next step could look like. Whether you’re considering employment, an apprenticeship, further study or higher education, our team provides advice, guidance and support to help you make informed decisions about your future.
We know that parents and carers also want to feel confident that their young person is supported and progressing towards their goals. Our experienced Student Progression Team works with students throughout their time at College, helping them recognise their strengths, explore opportunities and prepare for life beyond education. The team is also available to support parents and carers with questions about progression routes and the opportunities available.
Our Student Progression Team supports learners across Bishop Auckland College Group, including Bishop Auckland College, South West Durham Training (SWDT) and The McIntyre Centre, helping every student work towards a future that’s right for them.
Meet The Team
Jennifer Phillips – Head of Community and Careers (Level 7 Career Leader) jennifer.phillips@bacoll.ac.uk
Emma Rowntree – Progression Coach (Level 6 CEIAG Specialist) emma.rowntree@bacoll.ac.uk
Julie Shafto – Progression Coach (Level 6 CEIAG Specialist) julie.shafto@bacoll.ac.uk
Roxanne Howard – Progression Coach (Work Placement Specialist) roxanne.howard@bacoll.ac.uk
The team are located in the Student Progression Hub, located on the ground floor at the main campus. We look forward to discussing your career options so please drop by, call or email to book an appointment to speak to one of our Progression Coaches. We are available: 5 days a week Monday to Thursday 8.30 am – 5.00 pm Friday 8.30 am – 12 noon. Evening appointments are also available.
Tel: 01388 443059 email: careers@bacoll.ac.uk
Careers Education, Information, Advice & Guidance
Our service includes:
• Personalised career plan
• Confidential one-to-one career appointments
• Access to a full programme of careers education tutorials
• Support with CVs
• Help with researching and identifying suitable vacancies
• Support with job applications
• Helping you to prepare for interviews
• Employability skills development through individualised mentoring
• Help you to find a job (part-time and full-time employment)
• Help you to find an internship, traineeship or apprenticeship
• Support you with applications into FE & HE programmes
• Support you through the UCAS application process for University
• Access and support you with your eTrackr Careers Student Portal
One-To-One Careers Guidance
If you are unsure about your career pathway or which course to do, book a one-to-one confidential careers appointment with one of our Progression Coaches. We offer careers appointments for all students (full-time and part-time), higher education students, apprentices and members of the wider community.
Careers Education
Every student and apprentice will be offered the opportunity of a one-to-one careers guidance interview during their time at College and full-time students will have access to a programme of careers education tutorials throughout their learning journey. Progression Coaches work closely with tutors to arrange career sessions that cater to their ability, are linked to vocational areas, and include a range of topics relating to careers and employability.
View our Careers Programme Calendar 2026 to 2027
Additional services include:
• Signposting and referral to college departments and external agencies
• Visits and trips to employers and universities
• Learning Bursary, Advanced Learner and Higher Education Loans
Through Durham County Council, students can access CiCi, an AI-powered careers chatbot curated by professional careers advisers.
CiCi is designed to help young people explore career options, learn about different industries and job roles, and discover education and training pathways through an interactive online chat.
Available to education providers across County Durham, CiCi offers careers information and guidance whenever it’s needed.
Access the CiCi Careers Chatbot here!
Careers Resources
We offer a wide range of resources including labour market information, routes into employment, apprenticeships, higher education and much more. Students and apprentices have access to our online careers platform which contains fully up to date resources, via the College VLE (Moodle), which you can access both in college and at home.
The careers platform also allows you to explore a range of destinations and pathways you may be interested in or may not have thought of before, and how these choices can lead to different career paths and further education. You can explore how to successfully apply for employment, an apprenticeship or university course, including universities abroad. The Student Progression team will complete regular tutorials with students to access all resources across the platform throughout the academic year.
Work Placements
The College has excellent, strong links with local employers across a wide range of sectors. All full-time students will undertake a work placement alongside their study programme and many of our part-time students complete work placement to compliment their learning programme. Work placement is a fantastic opportunity for you to perform actual tasks within an external workplace which will be linked to your chosen career. In some cases, placements are so successful that students are subsequently offered apprenticeships or employment.
Your Progression Coach will:
• Discuss placement options/choices with you
• Secure a vocationally related work placement linked to your career goal
• Provide you with a DBS check for your work placement
• Access and support you with your Grofar Work Placement Student Portal
• Help you to secure a positive destination following your course of study
You will gain access to Grofar, your very own work placement student portal. Within Grofar, you have easy access to all of your work placement details at any time. You can create action plans and targets to achieve on placement, log all of your placement hours, experiences and photo evidence and your employer will provide feedback on your performance. At the end of your placement, you will receive a personalised placement completion certificate.
The contacts made during placements can be extremely valuable for future job offers. It is your opportunity to show an employer your ability to work to a high standard and that you are keen to develop your career!
Employability & Job Opportunities
Many of our students progress directly into employment from their College course or apprenticeship. We support students and apprentices with CVs, one-to-one application support and mock interviews. Developing your employability skills to help you to progress into your chosen career is an integral part of your College course. Throughout your time at College, you will have the opportunity to work with employers in your vocational area through careers fairs, virtual workshops, visiting guest speakers from employers in a wide range of sectors and visits to employer premises to explore real life businesses.
Higher Education
Progression Coaches provide advice and guidance on higher education programmes including degree, foundation degree and higher national diplomas. They work with students who are making an application to higher education, providing specialist support on a range of higher education topics including how to research course choices and how to write an effective personal statement. The team also support all students studying higher education programmes across the Bishop Auckland College Group. Students are offered career one-to-one meetings with a Progression Coach. In addition to supporting students with their career progression, we also help to source work placements and complete Enhanced DBS checks.
Want to know more about Higher and Degree apprenticeships available? Read Higher and Degree Vacancy Listing: October 2026!
Apprenticeships
All apprentices have access to high-quality impartial careers advice to support them with their next steps. We offer appointments for apprentices to discuss career progression, continuous professional development and higher education.
For more information on Apprenticeships, click here.
Destinations
We are passionate about helping you find that perfect job, university course, apprenticeship plus many more career opportunities!
The positive destination work undertaken by the Student Progression team provides a very ‘hands on’ approach that we term ‘FMAB’.
• Facilitation – helping students to locate suitable and realistic opportunities and make applications to a range of potential destinations, including further study in FE or HE, apprenticeships, traineeships, internships, part-time and full-time employment
• Mentoring – providing individualised support with CVs, applications, preparing for interviews and additional training needs
• Advocacy – working with the College apprenticeship team and external organisations to advocate for individual students and maximise their chances of securing a sustainable positive destination
• Brokerage – understanding the labour market needs of target destination organisations, as well as the skills and potential of individual students, in order to broker sustainable positive destinations
Labour Market Information
Labour market trends play an important part in the decision making process for anyone planning their future career or looking at a career change. There is a broad range of local and national information available to help you make those all-important decisions and to explore the opportunities that may be available in the future. We suggest the following links as a good starting point:
- Labour Market Overview 2026
- Office for Labour Market Statistics
- National Careers Service
- Jobs & Career Advice
Information For Parents/Carers
We welcome Parents/Carers to attend careers appointments and to be involved in the progression process. You also have the opportunity to speak to the Student Progression team during College open evenings and Tutor Parent/Carer evenings.
We look forward to welcoming you into the Student Progression Hub, or meeting you at an Open Event!
Open Event Dates
- Thursday the 19th of November from 4:30pm-6:30pm
- Monday the 1st of February from 4:30pm-6:30pm
- Wednesday the 24th of March from 4:30pm-6:30pm
- Saturday the 22nd of May from 10am-12pm
