Amir AhmedVice Principal, Waltham Forest College
At Waltham Forest College, our careers programme sits at the heart of everything we do. As Vice Principal, I’ve seen first-hand what happens when senior leadership genuinely commits to careers guidance: students thrive, outcomes improve, and the whole institution moves forward.
Our entire SLT and Governing Board fully understand and embrace the power of a high-quality careers programme, not only for transforming individual lives, but for contributing to wider college priorities such as improvements in behaviour, attendance and attainment. When your whole leadership team understands the power of a strong careers programme, underpinned by the Gatsby Benchmarks, it stops being a box-ticking exercise and starts driving positive outcomes across every aspect of the organisation. The fact that I’m both Vice Principal and strategic careers lead is evidence of how much of a priority careers guidance is for us.
Supporting every learner, especially those who stand to benefit most
A careers programme led from the top must address the needs of every learner, including those most at risk of becoming NEET. Each year, many young people join us with risk indicators associated with disengagement: the absence of English or maths GCSEs, a history of low attendance, or other barriers to progression.
Our response is targeted and personalised. From the moment a learner joins the college, we take the time to understand their individual aspirations, interests and potential barriers through initial assessments, enrolment discussions, guidance interviews and ongoing reviews with tutors, careers advisers and pastoral staff.
Support includes intensive English and maths intervention, regular progress reviews, one-to-one careers guidance interviews, pastoral mentoring, structured employability workshops, employer encounters and exposure to relatable role models from industry.
Our careers and curriculum teams work closely together to revisit learners’ goals throughout the year, recognising that aspirations evolve as confidence and awareness of opportunities grow. In the most recent year, 96% of our 16–18-year-old learners progressed into higher-level study, employment or apprenticeships.
Building employer relationships: leading by example
Strong employer partnerships are fundamental to a meaningful careers programme, and senior leadership must model this engagement. The SLT and Board proactively engage with employers through targeted outreach, using pledge cards to invite employers to commit tangible support such as talks, mentoring, industry insight sessions and work experience opportunities.
For employers who may be hesitant or short on time, we designed a flexible event called ‘speed-view’, modelled on the format of speed-dating. This brings together 60–70 employers to deliver short, focused three-minute conversations with learners. In a single morning, a student can engage with five or six employers, gaining insights into a range of sectors and receiving direct, constructive feedback. It is a highly effective format that delivers real, meaningful interaction for our students.
Beyond employers, our senior leaders have developed strategic partnerships with the Local Authority, the Department for Work and Pensions, universities, Skills and Employment Advisory Boards and key funding partners. These partnerships help ensure that our curriculum remains relevant, responsive and future-focused.
Sequencing the curriculum with careers guidance front of mind
One dimension of senior leadership that is sometimes overlooked is the purposeful sequencing of the curriculum. We carefully order delivery so that learners acquire key knowledge, skills and professional behaviours to ensure they are fully prepared before undertaking work experience. Within automotive, for example, core skills such as tyre changing, vehicle safety checks and health and safety are front-loaded early in the course, enabling learners to confidently apply their learning during placements with employers such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz. This approach builds learner confidence, ensures employers receive students who are genuinely prepared for a professional setting and maximises the impact of meaningful work experience for both parties.
A careers-first investment approach
Active senior leadership means putting resources behind your commitment. We have demonstrated this by investing significantly into systems and staffing. One example is our investment in the Navigate platform, which enables staff to track all careers interventions in one place, from work placements to employability skills and related experiences. This provides the careers team with data to monitor progress at both cohort and individual level, to spot trends and additional support in place where needed.
We have also invested steadily, over a period of six years, in industry-standard equipment for our technical and vocational courses. This includes a specialist nursing suite with adult clinical simulation areas for our T Level Health programme and a state-of-the-art airplane cabin for our Travel and Tourism students. These immersive environments give students hands-on experience of professional settings, baked into their learning, that help them feel confident, prepared and workplace ready.
The results: recognition from Ofsted, the AoC, and beyond
The results of embedding careers at a strategic level are visible across the whole college. We have seen improvements in student engagement and a more focused attitude towards learning, with fewer concerns raised around behaviour and wellbeing. Strategically prioritising the careers programme is a major contributing factor, alongside broader pastoral and curriculum support.
When you prioritise the Gatsby Benchmarks, you are not only transforming individual lives, you are also improving attendance, behaviour and attainment across the college. The halo effect is real.
In 2025, we were recognised by the Association of Colleges (AoC) with a Beacon Award for Excellence in Careers and Enterprise. In our most recent Ofsted inspection (March 2024), we were rated Outstanding overall, with inspectors noting that “learners and apprentices benefit significantly from high-quality careers education, advice and guidance throughout their time at the college” and that learners and apprentices “have ambitious and clear plans in place for their next steps.” We were also ranked by the Department for Education as the number one college in London for 16-18 student achievement.
I would encourage every leadership team in a college or school to prioritise their careers programme. Invest the time in developing a strategy, use the Gatsby Benchmarks as your framework, and embed it into your culture. You will reap the rewards as it will drive the whole college up.
