Are sixth form careers guidance and work experience opportunities much better in private schools?

As an experienced Careers Adviser, I would really recommend the Morrisby Profile to help young people to look at their strengths, and to discuss how these might apply to degree or career ideas. They have also developed a shorter online test, but I'm not sure how this stands up to the intensive paper and pencil one.
You can arrange for anyone to sit one of these tests and to get professional guidance afterwards - it doesn't mean signing up to ISCO either. See the Morrisby website www.Morrisby.com and look for "Find an Adviser". The search is based on your postcode, so it doesn't matter where in the UK you are based.

My DD did the Morrisby Profile via www.londoncareeradvice.com She was an academic high flyer and the interviewer was an Oxbridge grad and fairly young. She sat a 3 hour test, did an interests questionnaire and then had a 1 hr interview. This was followed by an action plan. DD found the process helpful and it helped her choose her degree subject, universities and we'll be using it to decide what industries she will do work experience (although she is studying law!)

I understand many people at private schools do The Morrisby via ISCO but not all schools use them.

I do think many schools are extremely poor at getting former students to come back to careers evenings. My DH goes back to his old school and is part of their careers evening on Civil Engineering. Few schools seem to do this but there is a wealth of talent out there who could be so helpful to young people. Parents did come into my DD's girls' schools and talk about their careers but it was so hit and miss that it was not very useful. Even with decent advice, girls chose A level combinations that were unsuitable because they could not decide where their futures lay. These girls were less likely to get a university course that suited them because their options were reduced. However, GCSEs had to do the EBacc plus 3, 4 or 5 optional choices, and that was pre Gove.

Friends who have children at the local state girls' grammar school feel they put too much emphasis on university course content and not enough on the status of the institution and job prospects. Hence some very able students go to rather lowly universities. The independent schools seem far more ambitious for their students. However, I totally agree that switched on parents can navigate this minefield far more successfully and many schools do not aim high enough. Indeed some parents don't aim high enough because some people seem to think that because a local university does outreach work, children should go there irrespective of the quality of the university. I honestly think these attitudes lead to children under-achieving because they take an easy route rather than accepting a challenge. Good schools ensure children aim high, not safe!

Again only IME teenagers have an infuriating habit of doing abrupt U turns. My DS spent 2 1/2 academic years absolutely convinced he was going to do one particular Pre U. He started to wobble in March and looked at similar subjects and then in June did the abrupt U turn and selected a subject that he'd previously rejected despite my occasional suggestions that he might enjoy it and grumbled slightly he couldn't keep up the other as well.
If like my DS she's a very able all rounder do try and persuade her to look at the IB.

dithering if my DS was going into yr 11 and not yr 12 and I know what I know now about the subjects that interest him we would have seriously considered the IB. By the time I realised it might have suited him it was too late. I'd heard lots of things about it like you much of it negative but I definitely think if your DD is interested she should go and look at schools who are actually successfully running it and talk to the pupils and staff. I recently talked to a boy that did it and although he like many think it's considerably harder or shall we say more work than than A levels he loved it.
Hey oh we can all be clever in retrospect!

Scottish universities I'm told and I know Edinborough does because my DS has researched it offers a broader degree. For the first two years you can choose 1-2 modules unrelated too your chosen subject. But this does mean the degree takes four years to complete instead of three but I personally think it's a good thing so I don't see the extra year as a problem. Obviously you've got to be in a situation to be able help financially at the very least with the living cost for longer.

DS1's work experience at the multinational was incredible they run it three weeks of the year and take about 10 children each time. They had a very organised programme, different activities morning and afternoon it's a very famous R and D defence company. Definitely worth the effort on our part.
My only gripe; they had far too much fun not like work at all!

Our was 'organised' by NYBEP. Who are shit.

Meant to add DS1 (state educated) did work experience in yr 10, the school held a list of a few employers who'd consider it but unless you DC wanted farm work or shop basically parents were very much expected to sort it out themselves. This was partly due to our location because anything much outside of these area would require parents to drive them to a bigger town/city. My DS got work experience with a huge multinational, I did the initial leg work and then he applied and was interviewed, we then drove the daily 100 mile round trip twice a day.
At DS2's school WE hasn't been mentioned yet.

DD went to the magistrates court a few times: she loved it! But yes, she did say that by the last day they were clearly struggling for jobs to give her.

I Agree with that nit though neither of my DCs schools do year 10 WE.

I am happy though that part time work can offer that experience. Probably more so, since even a Saturday job will have proper responsibilities and problems to deal with.

I think the problem even at year 12 is that it's just not appropriate to have them around in many work places. Law firms are particularly tricky because of client confidentiality etc.

We used to have them at my old firm and it wasn't ideal. The young person couldn't come to court or sit on on interviews. Or even see the documentation.

DH firm now only does proper paid WE for those during or post degree. It is hard to secure a place and well paid. It serves as a first filter for those looking for a TC.

OP I have two DSs one in a well regarded FE college, one in a well know independent all boys boarding, who thankfully has no desire to be a politician, go into the city or become a comedian.
IME the careers advise in the FE college is ok, universities visit, tutors help if kids ask but not much more, if you don't know what you want to do I'm not sure how much help you get. A couple I've talked who are aiming high Bristol etc but I'm unconvinced they've received good advise from the college about A levels, they're doing textiles and other equivalents. This also applies to his old "high achieving outstanding academy". The high fliers on the other hand those who are good candidates for Oxbridge etc get an enormous amount of input.
At the independent, universities visit, from the UK and US, boys attend talks from yr 11, all yr 11 boys are offered one of those career profiling things (which we pay for), universities options are regularly discussed from very early on by HM's tutors, dons and of course the boys and parents, quite a few had already Oxbridge colleges informally even before starting at the school in yr 9. Fairly obviously A level subjects like textiles don't exist!
Many in both don't seem to know what they want to do at Uni certainly, but I get the impression that many at the independent are planning on following their parent (usually father) into the city and it's the simple undertaking of a degree /university attended not the subject studied that is all part of that stepping stone. Many at the FE college talk about being teachers.
Now I've got two children in the 6th form I can see that many are simply not ready to specialise and are being made to choose a limited number of subjects too early, that the IB probably is a better bet for some and also not even ready to specialise at Uni either, and perhaps this is reflected in the increasing number at my DS's independent school who go off to the Ivies.

I think year 10 WE should mainly be about a student showing commitment, getting on with people, etc.

Year 12 should be appropriate to career - last summer all the law firms and solicitors on the list were being uncommunicative or saying they didn't offer WE placements any more - school agreed that if nothing turned up there would be no point dd going somewhere irrelevant, and were going to let her study in school - thankfully somewhere did get found in the end, but whilst at year 10 I would have said she should probably go where she was sent and suck it up, in year 12 I'd have been annoyed if she had to go and work in an ice cream parlour or something!

I think it very much depends what you want out of it

There is a world of difference between WE that teaches you important life lessons, WE that introduces you to an industry that might interest you and WE that may be beneficial to your future career prospects.

It completely depends what a young person is looking to gain from it,

It does seem to me that part of the value of work experience is the process of finding it. Surely better a week washing dishes in a cafe you have found for yourself than shadowing a high court judge because he's your uncle? Or working in the local vet's because she's your mother?

My late FIL had a printing business, and got into trouble with the local schools because he insisted on paying work experience kids. He said that a) anyone who worked for him got a decent wage for the job and b) what was the use of work experience if it didn't include one of the most important reasons for working. He ended up not being allowed to offer work experience......!

I think very few schools, even the most high profile ones, give pupils an 'in' just by being there .

DH for example, wouldn't offer some random kid work experience just because he had attended w.

That said , what seems to go on is that those who know know one another sometimes help out.

Of course this happens in all walks of life but if you attend private school the pool will be high status. Or leaning that way.

Also private schools are often quite tight knit communities in their own right. Dd school is small. I know every girl in her year and their parents. Old girls come back all the time. So the links there are solid.

"
Very naïve comment.You generally need contacts to arrange any sort of meaningful work experience which a16 or 17 year old does not generally have."

I suppose it depends what you man by "meaningful". Thinking about my dc's friends who arranged their own work experience, they worked in a charity shop, a vets, a solicitor's office, out local MP's office, several primary schools, a special school, a fashion wholesaler (that was my dd- and wow, it opened her eyes!) with a midwife and with an art gallery. Loads of lessons learned....not necessarily the obvious ones.

She should be sorting out her own work experience!

Very naïve comment.You generally need contacts to arrange any sort of meaningful work experience which a16 or 17 year old does not generally have.

"Actually cynically I think a DC who is thinking about politics would be better off remaining in the state system to play the 'real life' card."

Hmmm- can't immediately think of anyone that's worked for!

Happygqrdening- politics, the City, comedy.............