Lambeth College

Smitta Sodha

Engaging with employers to run the Career Academies at Lambeth College is really boosting our employability agenda. Everyone knows just how challenging it is for young people to find employment these days, let alone employment that really utilises their talents, and working closely with employers increases their chances.

Through the Career Academy programme our students get to visit and work at a diverse set of organisations including financial giants Morgan Stanley; multinationals IBM and KornFerry; engineering company Mitie; social housing managers Mears, as well as our local authority, Lambeth Council. These are all very different environments to the College for the students to experience.

Students are immediately made to feel important when they dress smartly and go off  to events or businesses. At the Career Academies UK kick-off, A Capital Experience, they enjoy the event, the visits and activities, as well as meeting Career Academy students from other colleges. Most importantly, they see how the programme can really expand their horizons.

A Capital Experience and other Career Academies UK events, such as the annual conference in June, are important for me and the other teachers involved in Lambeth College's Career Academies. We can network with other Career Academy teachers and get contacts and new ideas. If I'm stuck on setting an assignment or finding speakers, I have successfully used ideas from other teachers that I've met.

Expanding our network of supporting employers has been a big focus this year. As well as having employers on our Local Advisory Board, helping us to make our Career Academies successful, we have a College Governor, just retired from a long career in business, helping us to  build strong relationships with new employers. We are able to tap into skills from for example the MOD, GE, IBM, Spire Healthcare and Lambeth Council. Many of our teachers have a business background but they are very time constrained. So we have used all these external resources very successfully this year to find new employers willing to offer paid internships, to suggest Guru Lecturers and to enroll new Partners in Business (mentors), as well as to help with student applications, CVs and run practice interview sessions.

Bringing all this direct business experience into the classroom has really helped the students relate what they're learning in the curriculum to the workplace environment, as well as helping them to relate to other adults.

Recently a team of four business consultants ran a half-day game on setting up a fast food business. They were amazed how well the second year Career Academy students did in the limited time, comparing them favourably to business people. We think this is testament to how much these students developed over the summer in their internships.   

The College currently runs two Career Academies, in Business and IT. Demand for places is high, with most of the students having been inspired by previous students or the strong reputation of the programme. The formula is so successful that there is activity underway to expand Career Academies in the College to Engineering and Construction.

Our Career Academy students who graduated earlier this year gave a presentation about their experiences - gained from employers such as Bloomberg, Citi and Accenture - and what they gained from the programme overall to the College's Local Advisory Board. It was plain to see that they were all accomplished and eloquent young people who had clear goals set for their futures. It made me and my colleagues very proud and delighted to see how effective Career Academies can be.