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Top Tips

In April 2017, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) confirmed it will be rolling out an independent, centralised assessment, the Solicitors Qualifying Exam (SQE), or the ‘super-exam,’ by September 2020. This single exam will spell the end of the Graduate Diploma in Law and the Legal Practice Course.
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COMMENTS | NOVEMBER 2017

Cyber Careers

To find out and understand more about all the brilliant job title descriptions that are on offer to those in cyber careers and also the paths you can follow the best site we have found is an American website called Cyber Degrees, but remember that they may use different job titles in the UK.
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COMMENTS | OCTOBER 2017

The soft side of your CV

“being smart will mean something completely different” Harvard Business Review. Don’t get me wrong, it will be a long time (if ever) that a double first from Oxbridge fails to be a “stand-out” on the CV but the new world won’t just judge you on your educational grades but also on your ability to prove that you can adapt your current skills to any situation.
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COMMENTS | OCTOBER 2017

Careers in catering and hospitality

It’s a popular career choice for many young people (more than a third of employees are under the age of 25), especially since the likes of Masterchef and Bake Off have taken over our screens. But it’s not just about soggy pastry bottoms and wobbly Panna cottas.
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COMMENTS | OCTOBER 2017

The rise of the gig economy

The rapid growth of the so-called gig economy in the UK suggests that it may be shaping the future of work. Many are drawn by the flexibility, enabling us to multi-task, juggling other priorities and passions. We love the idea that we are taking charge of our lives, are in control of our own time, but we also know that nothing comes for free.
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COMMENTS | SEPTEMBER 2017

Guide to clearing

It’s the day teenagers love and loathe in equal measures. This year’s A level results will be out on Thursday August 17 and youngsters up and down the country are gearing themselves up to discover how they fared in their exams. On the day itself, some will be celebrating stellar results but others may have missed their grades.
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COMMENTS | AUGUST 2017

Educational acronyms

Acronyms may make communication speedier for insiders but they confuse, irritate and deter the uninitiated. Sometimes they are an obvious abbreviation (helpful) but often they are vain and pompous “e-CAF – Electronic Common Assessment Framework” or downright ludicrous “CTPS – Classroom Teachers Pay Spine”
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COMMENTS | MAY 2017

Careers at the bar

Dream sequence: eloquent, glamorous (a wig works equally well for both sexes) young barrister convinces jury and stuns famous judge with previously undiscovered legal precedent. Courtroom silenced, innocent party acquitted and said barrister firmly on legal ladder. Unfortunately, the scenario above belongs on the silver screen
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COMMENTS | MAY 2017

Coping with stress

Whether you have been a boarder since the age of eight, a fearless and fragrant backpacker for the preceding year or about to experience your first time away from the home-cooked meals, free-flowing laundry services and the bill-less existence of home, making the transition from school to university will be one of the hardest things for a teenager to face.
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COMMENTS | MAY 2017

Tips for telephone interviews

''Over 50% of all job interviews are now conducted via the phone or an online platform'' The ISE January 2017. So there you are, about to have a telephone job interview, cosy at home in your Lion King onesie, keeping your energy up with a snack and the footie on (quietly of course) in the background.
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COMMENTS | MAY 2017

Interview top tips

Congratulations! You have been shortlisted for an interview. Whether this is your first ever job interview or not, there is one word that sums up the best approach to getting that job: PREPARE! A week before the interview: Research: look at the company’s website, find any recent news stories about them.
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COMMENTS | APRIL 2017

Getting a job top tips

Consider finding your first job as a full-time occupation. It will occupy you every day and take up a large part of each day. The experience can be exciting, worrying, uplifting, exhausting, invigorating and challenging. We can also help you; further our expert advisory team are on hand to advise you on how to write a CV, interview techniques, and other application processes.
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COMMENTS | JANUARY 2017

CV top tips

Having spoken to numerous employers about how they filter through the mountain of CVs they receive we have come up with some useful tips that are worth bearing in mind when creating this important document. You will not be surprised to hear that in this technological world there are now machines that read CVs, scanning for selected keywords
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COMMENTS | JANUARY 2017

Blog

A new level, from A to T

Tony Blair may not be exactly everyone’s flavour of the month these days, but his attempt to put “education, education, education” at the top of the political agenda was manna from heaven for all us passionate believers. However, like some of his other enterprises, this has not been an easy ride.
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COMMENTS | DECEMBER 2017

Work Experience: a level playing field

One of the things we quiz students about when we’re reviewing schools and colleges is whether the careers advice they get is any good and, digging deeper still, whether they’re encouraged or supported to get work experience. ‘Work experience?’ many youngsters retort aghast while even those that have secured a corker
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COMMENTS | DECEMBER 2017

Parental influence on their offpsring's career choices

Any parent who doubts their influence on their child’s career choices need only turn to Google to discover just how wrong they are. Report after report reveals that parents play a major role in their offspring’s decision-making about careers and even more so about their choice of university.
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COMMENTS | DECEMBER 2017

STEM to STEAM

Most parents will be familiar with the acronym STEM and the move towards schools bringing these subjects – science, technology, engineering, and maths – together to give young people the skills they need in the modern economy. What fewer parents will have heard of is STEAM, in which the arts are added to the mix.
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COMMENTS | NOVEMBER 2017

Gatsby - a novel idea

Good career guidance for all has never been more important as no loving parent wants their child to be kept in the dark about the opportunities available to them when they leave school. Despite tinkering, by every hue of government, over the last 30 years a golden age of clear advice has never been reached.
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COMMENTS | NOVEMBER 2017

The future of work

'65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t yet exist.' McLeod, Scott and Karl Fisch, ‘Shift Happens.' Not a surprising stat when you look at social media as an example. It’s transformed the world of marketing and produced job opportunities that were non-existent 10 years ago.
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COMMENTS | JULY 2017

Gender bias

At a time when female politicians are rising more reliably than the dough in “Bake-Off” and a female King Lear is up for an Olivier Award, the glass ceiling gender barrier looks increasingly fragile. It may not have shattered but there are large cracks.
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COMMENTS | MARCH 2017

What should good careers advice look like?

Less than half of school leavers receive information and guidance from a careers adviser at their school or college, a new survey has found. So what should good careers advice look like? And is it likely to become a reality following the Skills Minister’s recent promises in this area? It seems that every time the word "apprenticeship" is mentioned, so is a statistic from last year showing that apprenticeship numbers fell despite the introduction of a levy meant to encourage employers to increase them.
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COMMENTS | MARCH 2018

Under pressure - mental health at school

‘Issues of potential teen angst like eating disorders and cyberbullying just don’t happen at this school.’ ‘I honestly don’t think pupils at our school feel under undue pressure.’ ‘I’ve never known of a young person at this school to self-harm.
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COMMENTS | FEBRUARY 2018

Going up, going down? Apprenticeships

Our thoughts on why apprenticeship numbers fell after the introduction of the apprenticeship levy. It seems that every time the word "apprenticeship" is mentioned, so is a statistic from last year showing that apprenticeship numbers fell despite the introduction of a levy meant to encourage employers to increase them.
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COMMENTS | JANUARY 2018

Most popular Good Schools Guide articles

Special educational needs introduction

Some special needs are easy to spot, others are only determined once a child has experienced considerable difficulties, frustrations or social and emotional problems. Over the years, diagnosis of and provision for SEN have improved, but both can still be a minefield. Identifying different kinds of special educational needs Few children fit a condition perfectly – if they do, we tend to say they are a ‘classic’ case. Most will not be straightforward: perhaps a dyslexic with dyspraxia and a touch of ADD, or a child with ASD who also has Down’s syndrome. Just as special needs are hard to…
The Good Schools Guide online subscription

Find the best school for your child. One month subscription - £0.49 per day Three month subscription - £0.41 per day Six month subscription - £0.33 per day One year subscription - £0.29 per day Register for instant access to: ☑ Search for more than 30,000 schools in our parent friendly interactive directory. ☑ Create and save lists of schools via My Schools. ☑ Use our comparison grid to get exam results overview of schools you are interested in. ☑ Find comprehensive advice on state and independent schools, tutors and special needs. ☑ Catchment maps for English state schools by…
Finding a state grammar school

There are currently around 164 state funded grammar schools located in 36 English local authorities, with around 167,000 pupils between them. There are a further 69 grammar schools in Northern Ireland, but none in Wales or Scotland. Almost half of these are considered 'selective authorities' (eg Kent and Buckinghamshire), where around one in five local children are selected for grammar school entry based on ability. The others are areas such as Barnet or Kingston, with only a few grammar schools. How to find a state grammar school Word of warning: not all selective grammar schools have 'grammar' in their…
Schools for children with performing arts talents

As proud parents, we all know our children are unique. They're smarter than anyone else's, funnier, certainly more attractive, better behaved and above all bursting with the kind of talent that would leave Daniel Radcliffe or Charlotte Church standing. And sometimes, just sometimes, parental pride is justified.
State boarding schools

If you think your child would benefit from a boarding school education, but are put off by the high fees and consequent limited social mix of a typical independent boarding school, you may find that a state boarding school is the answer. Read more... State grammar schools Counties such as Kent or Buckinghamshire are ‘selective authorities’ and most families will have at least one grammar school close to where they live. Elsewhere, for example in Reading or Kingston-on-Thames, there are just one or two grammar schools and competition for places at these is ferocious. Grammar schools are located in 36…

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