Career Planning and Opportunities
Working with Skills Development Scotland
The Hub (SDS)
In partnership with Skills Development Scotland we have our own Careers Hub, permanently staffed by our own SDS Officers, Veronica and Gavin.
School Careers Advisers - Veronica and Gavin
Hello! Most of you will already know us from our consistent guest appearances at parents’ evenings and other school events. For those of you that don’t, we are in school every day and Monday – Thursday there is a drop in at lunch time each week, we also provide 1:1 Careers Guidance and group work activity for pupils from S1 to S4. We are always available to support our young people through study time and after exam results.
The world of work in changing fast. New opportunities pop up every day, and these days, you’re unlikely to be in a job for life and it’s important to be ready to face unexpected changes. Having the right information, or knowing how to get it, helps when you need to make decisions about what to do. With the help of our pupil My World of Work Ambassadors all pupils will complete registrations and be shown how to use the website to personalise their Accounts, and I would recommend the parent resources to help you help your child particularly during Subject Choices. Find out more @ www.myworldofwork.co.uk
FOCUS: Work Based Learning
I would like to highlight the topic of Work Based Learning and the online information and resources that are available for pupils and parents to find out more. Pupils are learning about this route to a career in school as the Apprenticeship route offers the opportunity to be in employment and earn a salary whilst working towards a range of Scottish Vocational Qualifications up to Degree level. There have been many changes over the years and you can find out about Foundation, Modern and Graduate Apprenticeships @ www.apprenticeships.scot
The www.apprenticeships.scot website is also an employment portal for currently recruiting Modern and Graduate Apprenticeships. The website is updated with new opportunities daily and well worth a look.
I hope that this has been useful and I look forward to meeting you at future events and parents’ evenings and should you wish to make contact you can get us at veronica.rankin@sds.co.uk, and gavin.jackson@sds.co.uk or contact us by telephoning the school. Twitter - @UGSCareersHub
SDS WEBSITE – UGS at 4minutes 40 - https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/
Examples of good practice
This section of our website provides links for pupils to help them plan their careers and lives beyond school. Common phrases and items that you will read and hear about are:
- Career pathways
- Career Management Skills
- 16+ (this relates to beyond the age of 16 years)
- Positive School Leaver Destinations
- Career Planning tools
- Developing the Young Workforce
- Skills Development Scotland - Scotland's Career Service
- Work Experience
- Opportunities: Modern Apprenticeships
- Opportunities: information about training, events and jobs
Opportunities: Apprenticeships - Foundation, Modern and Graduate
Apprenticeships in Scotland have changed significantly offering pupils with opportunities to gain skills while working – ‘earning while learning'. In the past these apprenticeships tended to be mainly for traditional trades, but there is a now a greater variety of opportunities to reflect the economy and workforce needs of the 21st century. The two links below provide further information about these:
Career Planning tools
The My World of Work website offers you a variety of tools to help you plan your career. It can assist you in working out your strengths, your skills and your interests, as well as information about your school subjects and how the skills acquired from these link to future careers:
Skills Development Scotland - Scotland's Career Service
Within Uddingston Grammar School pupils can access our Careers Hub which is staffed by Careers Advisers from Skills Development Scotland. Pupils can arrange to meet with staff at various points in the week for advice and support about their career planning and post-school destinations.
The Skills Development Scotland website can be accessed here:
Opportunities: information about training, events and jobs
Periodically, Mr Wilson (S5 / S6 DHT) will list information here about opportunities that arise in training, events and jobs. These can be accessed by scrolling down this page for more information. The most recent listings will appear appear first and we would encourage you to check the dates / deadlines carefully: