Careers Advice

Parents and carers play a vital role in shaping young people’s decisions about their future, and that’s why we want to work with you to support your young person. Our careers programme is designed to ensure that learners have high aspirations for their future and the skills they need to access the widest possible range of options when they leave college.

Unifrog is an online platform designed to support young people to make informed decisions about their futures. We have invested in this system as it’s a great way to help learners explore their interests and find their best next step through online tools and resources.

We regularly seek feedback from a range of stakeholders on our careers provision and would welcome your input. Please take a few moments to answer our survey about the service here, or if you have any comments or suggestions, please contact our Careers Lead, Joanna Brown B.A. M.Sc, on joanna.brown@mkcollege.ac.uk or 01908 684143.

Explore our dedicated resources for parents and carers and sign up for our newsletter below:

Parents & Carers

Here are some suggestions on how you can help in terms of providing information and support:

• Looking at career information with your son or daughter and familiarising yourself with the options early on in their college life. This will help them with future planning and thinking about their goals and aspirations for the future as well as their employability skills.
• Talk to them about the world of work in general terms – what you like and dislike about your own role, the jobs of people they know and meet, some of the challenges and realities of the working world – as this helps them to build up a picture of what they want from work.
• Encourage them to be independent in their research.
• If your son/daughter has a careers appointment, they will agree on actions with the careers adviser. These will be typed onto the student’s college record within 48 hours of the appointment, as well as emailed to them. Encourage them to discuss the report with you.
• Help them to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of different routes and how these may suit them as individuals.
• Encourage them to start planning early – for example, we encourage students to start thinking about their plans at least a year in advance.
• If your son or daughter is happy for you to attend their career appointment, you are very welcome.

All learners have access to Unifrog, an online platform where they can explore their skills and interests in order to make informed decisions about their futures.

We regularly seek feedback on the value of our careers provision. If you have any comments or suggestions, please contact our Careers Lead, Joanna Brown, B.A. M.Sc, on joanna.brown@mkcollege.ac.uk or 01908 684143.

We are committed to helping all learners achieve their goals in a supportive and inclusive environment. To find out more about our provision for learners with additional needs, please follow this link.  

A guide on post-16 options aimed at parents, carers, and families of young people with SEND has been produced by the South Midlands Careers Hub.

Our Learning Support team can be contacted by email ineedsupport@mkcollege.ac.uk or phone 01908 684155.

We are committed to delivering a curriculum that is challenging, innovative, and inclusive as well as reflecting the local, regional, and national skills priorities. Significant opportunities exist to deliver on local priorities relating to digital skills, carbon reduction, and pathways into employment.

To achieve these aims, we work collaboratively with the South Midlands Careers Hub, employers, Milton Keynes City Council, DfE, DWP, local schools, colleges, alternative provision settings, and higher education institutions.

As the largest provider of post-16 education in Milton Keynes, we recognise that collaboration is essential to support the city’s rapid growth and increasingly diverse population. Together we are shaping a skills agenda that meets the evolving needs of our local economy.

Milton Keynes College Group is annually accredited under the Matrix Standard for the provision of Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) and was rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted at our most recent inspection. Our programme is mapped to and assessed using the Gatsby Benchmarks.

The success of the programme is measured and evidenced by:

• Student progression and destination outcomes
• Students’ engagement with Careers & Futures events and activities
• Student, parent/carer, and employer feedback
• Quality assurance processes, including Curriculum Performance Reviews
• Maintaining quality standards through ongoing Compass Benchmarking, as well as matrix re-evaluation and accreditation

We review our Careers Programme annually. Students, staff, parents or carers, and employers are welcome to add their comments and suggestions by contacting our Careers Lead, Joanna Brown B.A. M.Sc, joanna.brown@mkcollege.ac.uk or 01908 684143