The University of Liverpool Maths School (ULMaS) is a specialist Sixth Form college teaching A Levels in Maths, Further Maths, Computer Science and Physics. It welcomes more than 100 students each year from across the Northwest, providing an enriched experience of studying STEM subjects.
The Challenge:
ULMaS is specialist college with a careers strategy to ensure that students have a full understanding of all post-18 pathways open to them. So our School and Colleges Services team is opening up new pathways on specialist routes.
How we made an impact:
Deputy Headteacher and Careers Lead David Hemsley said: “Our students are very academically driven, with many focused on university and further study to PhD level and beyond, or working at a high level in fields such as Engineering or Computer Science.
“To help them succeed in their STEM careers, we want to ensure they can make fully informed decisions that consider the short, medium and long term, and transferrable skills.
“Whilst a number of our students apply to and are successful with Oxbridge applications, we want to give them a wider sense of what else is available and attainable. For example, an institution with a particular specialism, or a degree level apprenticeship that may be a good fit.
“We work with both Career Connect (through Dr Fred Fortune) and the Careers and Enterprise Company, and the combination works really well.
“Combining the industry visits we organise, with having Fred, our impartial careers expert, on site, is key to what we aim to achieve. Fred is a great fit for us, being a Physics PhD graduate herself. This allows her to build a strong rapport with our students. They really value her guidance. She ‘gets’ them.
“We have a high percentage of students who are neurodiverse, and Fred is very attuned to the best way to support them, for example in the language she uses and framing of a situation.
“Periods of transition can be a challenge for some of our students. We combine our own pastoral support systems with Fred’s impartial careers expertise, to achieve a positive careers conversation with that young person.
“We never underestimate the impact of a good careers conversation – and Fred takes actions to maximise that impact.
Career Connect Adviser Dr Fred Fortune at ULMaS.
“Fred sends an email to the student with a summary of the discussion, extra information and resources, and we log this on our school system, to give us a full picture. Even months later, if Fred spots something that will be useful, she will pass it on to the student.
“Fred is really good at listening to my thoughts too, and gives her own independent view.
“As well as applying her in-depth knowledge of the Gatsby benchmarks when working with students, she shares that expertise with me, and will present a positive challenge or new idea that helps me to create an impactful careers strategy.
“Fred is also very keen to ensure she is up to date with university application processes and is accompanying us on open days at Cambridge.
“I see Fred as an ally – someone who brings independent advice that benefits not just our students, but our staff and our whole careers programme. She feels just like one of our own staff, and she cares.
“We are meeting every Gatsby benchmark, of which we are very proud.”
Discover more about the impact we make on the people we support by downloading our full Impact Report 2023/24 via the button below.
