Aquinas recently signed up with Unifrog, an online destinations platform which provides outstanding careers and destinations support.

It centralises impartial guidance on the full range of options, so students end up in the right destination for them.  It is the only place where students can compare every post-16 and post-18 opportunities in the UK.

Unifrog brings into one place every university course, apprenticeship, and college course in the UK, as well as other opportunities, such as School Leaver Programmes, MOOCs and every college at Oxford and Cambridge plus Europe, Asia and Australasia as well as faculties in Canada, and every college in the US. It also allows students to compare apprenticeships, School Leaver Programmes, and Further Education courses in the UK.

Unifrog’s data comes from lots of places, including UCAS, the National Apprenticeships Service, The National Careers Service, Unistats, HESA, The Guardian, HEPI, the Cabinet Office, the Office for National Statistics, the Commission for Employment and Skills and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

The data on apprenticeships vacancies is updated every night.  The platform also makes it easy for students to record their employability skills in the “competencies” section, and write their CVs and Personal Statements.

One of the tasks students will be directed to during the next few weeks is to update their Unifrog pages, with particular emphasis on evidencing their competencies.

Research by the CBI (Confederation of British Industry which represents 190,000 UK businesses) found that over 80% of employers say that employability skills are more important than degree subjects.  One of the aims of Aquinas is to ensure our young people can make informed choices, are well prepared for employment, whether that be straight from college, as part of an apprenticeship or after completion of their University studies.

The Unifrog platform works just as well on mobiles and tablets as it does on desktops.  So students can redraft their Personal Statement, update their competencies or search for opportunities anywhere they like!

Matt Jones from Unifrog said ‘Aquinas Grammar School partnered with Unifrog in November 2019 to further enhance their already fantastic careers programme. Our initial focus was on years 13, 12 and 10 to support with HE and Degree Apprenticeship pathways, Level 3 (A-level and BTEC) options and Level 2 (GCSE) options respectively. Following an in-depth staff training with the careers team at Aquinas, Unifrog has been incorporated into the weekly career slots to support with the above as well as career aspirations and recording key skills. Moving forward, we will continue working with the team at Aquinas to roll Unifrog out with all year groups and staff.  We look forward to working with a fantastic group of teachers and pupils’.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/unifrog-education