Careers and Employability

Whether you’re exploring career options, seeking an apprenticeship, or are looking at the next steps into higher education, we provide you with support, information, advice and guidance every step of the way. 

Careers support  

We offer our students an in-depth programme of support to help them focus and achieve their career ambitions both inside and outside of the classroom. 

We’re a lead college within the Greater Manchester Careers Hub which means we share the best practices on career guidance as we work towards meeting the Gatsby Benchmarks , which are guidelines that define the best careers provision in schools and colleges. 

You’ll be provided with a wide range of opportunities to meet employers in different forums. From employer talks, projects, real life briefs, visits to employer premises, master classes and careers fairs, through to work-related learning and work placement opportunities both in this country and abroad. 

You’re asked to reflect on these activities and consider how this is improving your employability skills through a termly tracker. We have a dedicated team of qualified professionals in FAB Futures who support students to build their skills to fulfil their ambitions and goals.  

We also offer access to an online support tool called Pathways. This enables students to access and use up-to-date labour market information to conduct research and plan career and educational pathways. 

We are committed to maintaining the Gatsby benchmarks for high-quality career education, and we continuously strive to improve and develop the opportunities we provide to you to support your career aspirations and ambitions. 

Careers Strategy

We are committed to providing high quality careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) for all our students to prepare them to progress into sustainable education, training and employment. You will be offered a planned programme of activities that will help them choose pathways that are right for them and that are appropriate to the students learning, planning and development.

The college’s Careers Leader is Kathryn O’Neill – k.oneill@wigan-leigh.ac.uk.

How can I access careers guidance?

Our careers team are based within FAB Futures at each campus. Pop in to book an appointment with a qualified careers coach. The team will also deliver different careers themed tutorials throughout the year, and this will also provide an opportunity to have a careers conversation.

We will focus on the following groups at these times of year, but if you have not taken up your opportunity and would like an appointment at a different time, please always come to FAB Futures and we will make an appointment.

Autumn Term – Level 3 (Year 2) students. This is the time of year when the key focus is on submitting your UCAS application, searching for higher and degree level apprenticeships and setting firm plans in place for your progression beyond college.

Spring term – Entry, Level 1 and Level 2 students. There will be a big focus on progression in this term, planning your next step onto the next level of qualification, changing direction if this is right for your career pathway or preparing for apprenticeships and the world of work.

Summer term – Level 3 ( Year 1) students. We will be here to support you to establish your destination and put the right planning in place for your final year at college.

SEND students with an Educational Health and Care Plan – We will contact you directly and/or your learning support team to facilitate your meeting with our friendly careers team.

Careers Programme Feedback

At Wigan & Leigh College, we are committed to continually improving our Careers & Employability provision to ensure it meets the needs of all our students.

We actively seek feedback from students, parents and carers, staff, employers, and other stakeholders to evaluate the impact and quality of our careers programme. This feedback is gathered through a range of methods, including surveys, focus groups, and evaluation forms following careers events and activities.

All feedback is reviewed regularly by the college’s Careers Team and used to inform the development of our programme, ensuring it remains relevant, high quality, and aligned to the Gatsby Benchmarks.

If you would like to share your views or suggestions about our careers programme, please contact our Careers Leader k.oneill@wigan-leigh.ac.uk