Labour Market Information
National Careers Service
The National Careers Service (http://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk) has some excellent careers information on it, including entry routes, skills required and pay. It also gives you some alternative, related careers information and gives you the chance to read some up-to-date and accurate labour market information ie are there going to be any jobs in that industry in the future and therefore is it worthwhile investing in relevant training/professional qualifications. Simply click on the link choose ‘careers advice’ and then ‘job profiles’. You can then type in a keyword or search via one of the different sector areas.
iCould
iCould (http://www.icould.com) is a website with lots of short films featuring people talking about their jobs; it is a different way of learning about a wide range of occupational area.
All About Careers
All About Careers (http://www.allaboutcareers.com) has lots of careers information on it, including some information on a wide range of employers who you might be interested in working for once you graduate from university; some even offer apprenticeship schemes. You can also use the website to search for university open days, vacancies (graduate and apprenticeship) and to look for internships, which might be useful when you reach university. Finally, it gives you the chance to complete a free ‘careers test’ that will try to help you think which sector you might be interested in. They have a sister website called My Career Springboard: www.mycareerspringboard.org which is also worth looking at.
Careers Box
Similar to icould, Careersbox (http://www.careersbox.co.uk) is a website that has videos of individuals who work in particular jobs and industries. There are also films about some companies who offer apprenticeship schemes and others by a number of universities.
Prospects
The Prospects website (https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree) has lots of interesting information for students considering university, including a section that outlines what current undergraduate students, studying particularly subjects, will likely consider as future employment opportunities once they graduate.
Please find below a list of other websites, which might be useful for helping you to explore your future plans:
Parental Guidance: http://www.parentalguidance.org.uk is a website written by The Careers Writers Association that gives some useful advice to parents regarding their son/daughter’s future plans and has some excellent links to other, additional resources.
Studential: https://www.studential.com is another website that helps individuals to consider the full range of options in the future, whether it is further education, apprenticeships, higher education, gap years or setting up your own business.
Careers at Sea: http://www.careersatsea.org is a website for those considering a career in the Merchant Navy, which contains information on the different roles available, as well as the contact details of all the sponsoring companies.
Widening Access to Medical School: http://www.wanttobeadoctor.co.uk has been set up by current medical students from the University of Leeds. It is a good website with lots of information/links for any prospective medical students.
NHS Careers: https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk is a website with lots of information about the huge range of careers that are available within the NHS.
The College of Policing: http://recruit.college.police.uk/Pages/home.aspx has a website with information about the entry requirements and process for becoming a Police Officer, Community Support Officer and/or Special Constable. Each local Force will also have information on their websites, for example: http://www.northumbria.police.uk/about_us/working_for_us/
Teaching Training: Students who want to consider a teaching qualification, after gaining an initial degree, can use the UCAS website: https://www.ucas.com/ucas/teacher-training to research their options. Other websites such as Get Into Teaching: https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk also offer excellent advice.
Law Careers: http://www.lawcareers.net is a website with information on training as a solicitor and barrister as well as a range of other legal careers.
Science Career Pathways: http://www.sciencecareerpathways.com/home is a website designed with employers to introduce students to the huge range of job and career opportunities available in the science-based industries.
Amongst other things, the Sutton Trust: http://www.suttontrust.com/about-us/faqs/summer-schools organise one-week summer schools and residentials for bright students from non-privileged homes to give them a taste of university life.
The Law National Aptitude Test (LNAT): http://www.lnat.ac.uk is used by a number of universities to help them select students for their law degrees. This website explains what is involved in the test and gives you access to some sample papers.
The BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT): http://www.admissionstestingservice.org/for-test-takers/bmat/about-bmat an aptitude test used as part of the admissions process for Medicine, Veterinary Medicine or Biomedical Sciences in some universities.
The UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT): http://www.ukcat.ac.uk is a test used in the selection process by a consortium of UK Medical and Dental Schools.
Maths Careers: http://www.mathscareers.org.uk is a website sponsored by the Bank of England and EDF Energy, which has a wide array of resources to promote careers related to maths.
Future Morph: http://www.futuremorph.org is a website dedicated to promoting careers linked to science and maths.
There are other specialised websites available, for a whole range of other careers, but this list gives a flavour of some of the more popular ones.
Explore different occupations using the LMI for All Careerometer widget
The widget can be used to explore and compare key information about occupations help of learn about different occupations and identify potential careers.
It provides access to a selection of UK headline data relating to pay, weekly hours of work and future employment prospects for different occupations, as well as description of the occupation.
Simply type in the title of the job you are interested in and the widget provides a series of options from which you can select the most relevant to you. You can then look up another two occupations and compare. You can also select ‘display the UK average’ and compare the information with the occupation you have selected.
http://www.lmiforall.org.uk/widget
The latest information regarding student and graduate labour market prospects can be found via https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk