Developing staff to become a Career Development Professional
Written by Jenny North, Head of Careers and Employment at BMet
Birmingham Metropolitan College is a further and higher education college with 10 campuses distributed within Birmingham, England. We partnered with Ixion, part of Shaw Trust when the Level 6 Career Development Professional Apprenticeship was launched and the first cohort of learners commenced in February 2020.
Why did you choose to work with Ixion delivering the Level 6 Career Development Professional Apprenticeship?
BMet chose to work with Ixion, part of Shaw Trust for our first Careers Development Professional (CDP) Level 6 apprenticeships in 2020. This was following the successful level 6 training delivered by Prospects to four BMet careers staff in 2014. We were keen to be one of the first adopters of the CDP apprenticeship nationally. Also, we had been waiting for the standard to be ready for use for around three years. Prospects and Ixion kept us informed of developments through our links with Martyn Pass. As soon as it was possible Ixion began to deliver the apprenticeship to 10 BMet staff.
How were learners supported on the Level 6 Career Development Professional Apprenticeship ?
Staff came from various roles including work experience, business development, one FE lecturer, schools and marketing team, adult education including training and the inclusion team. They all wanted to develop Careers Education, Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG) skills to better support their professional roles and contribute to wider CEIAG at BMet. A couple of staff had no formal qualifications at the start of the process. They were thrilled to have been able to achieve Maths and English GCSE including the full Level 6 Career Development Professional qualification.
Ixion tutors were able to support learners with a range of academic skills and abilities. We were very proud to celebrate our staff achievements at the higher education graduation ceremony held on 30 November 2022 where Ixion was also represented. A few apprentices were dealing with significant learning barriers, such as dyslexia and were seen to grow in confidence with continued support.
The apprenticeship began in February 2020 and by March 2020 COVID-19 added another challenge to our plans. Tutors switched to delivering training days via three-hour MS Teams sessions rather than the full day face-to-face sessions we had previously planned. Being one of the first groups to go through the end-point assessment also saw challenges. We were well supported by Ixion through this new emerging process!
How has the Career Development Level 6 Apprenticeship supported your staff development?
Eight learners achieved their level 6 qualification. One apprentice has gained a new job as the college careers adviser at Coventry college. Another apprentice managed to achieve Maths and English GCSE and their level 6 qualification over the two-year period. They have been promoted to SEND Careers Adviser and Inclusion officer at Matthew Boulton college.
Two apprentices from the Business Development team have been promoted to management positions. Another apprentice was part of the school and college marketing team and is now using her new careers advisory skills to give vocational guidance in local schools on behalf of BMet. She has also requested a move to work as full-time member of the careers team.Â
Also, two apprentices work as advisers to adult students in our Job skills and SWAP courses. One is a manager, the other is now a confident deliverer of guidance and group work. She has been supported well through her studies to achieve in spite of quite severe dyslexia. One apprentice was a sports teacher and has received a promotion and has become the careers champion for her department.
How has the apprenticeship raised BMET colleges CEIAG profile?
The success of the apprenticeship can be measured in the increased confidence in our staff. Several apprentices have progressed onto management roles within BMet and one has left the company to become a college lead careers adviser elsewhere. The qualified Careers Development Professionals now assist with CEIAG 20 days each year, and this is a valuable resource for these staff to supplement the skills of the Careers team to help reach our 10,000 students.
Thanks to the success of the qualification delivered by Ixion, we are continuing with the second tranche. This consists of six Careers Development Professional apprentices from February 2023. The six apprentices include college lecturers, students experience team members and a manager and members from the schools and marketing team and the contact centre.
