We are delighted to announce we have been accredited to the matrix Standard, demonstrating the high quality Careers Information Advice and Guidance services we provide to young people and adults.
Our Careers Team provide tailored careers guidance, mainly through 1-1 guidance interviews, for current and prospective students. This includes UCAS support and exploration of progression opportunities for students’ future career journeys.
Award assessors were impressed by a number of our strengths, namely:
• The College has developed a ‘web’ of support to enable students to progress and have a good College experience. There are a variety of roles that support wellbeing, barriers to progression, attendance, behaviour, social and careers/employability. It was clear that all of the different services work well together, with regular signposting between services.
• Many of the support areas have a named person linked to a curriculum area, which provides a clear point of contact for curriculum-based staff which supports effective communication and working systems.
• In speaking with staff, it was clear that their focus was on supporting students, frequently speaking of the importance of relationship building. For students, the most frequent word used to describe the College was ‘comfortable’ – they felt comfortable in the College, comfortable with the support they received. It was clear that the support was valued by students who recognised how it was supporting them to reach their goals.
The matrix Standard, delivered by The Growth Company on behalf of the Department for Education, is the international quality standard for organisations that deliver information, advice and/or guidance (IAG), either as their sole purpose or as part of their service offering.
Roger Chapman, Head of the matrix Service for The Growth Company said: “This is a fantastic achievement for Sandwell College and I would like to congratulate the team on their success. We believe that at the heart of high-quality advice and support services are strong leadership, excellent service and a focus on continuous improvement, all underpinned by effective use of the resources available. The matrix Standard is designed to benchmark organisations against best practice in these areas. With their accreditation success, Sandwell College is working to provide the best possible support to their clients.”
Director of Student Services Angela Tombs said: “I would like to thank everyone for their help in achieving the Matrix Standard and for the great work our teams do to support students.”
