Careers lesson plans

This lesson divides into two parts. The first introduces the concept of transferable skills and the types of activities that can help to develop them. Students will identify which transferable skills they already possess and consider ways in which they could develop ones that they don’t yet have. The second part of the lesson covers competency questions, which employers use to explore candidates’ transferable skills during the recruitment process for jobs or apprenticeships. Students will learn how to answer competency questions and consider which of their own skills and experiences they can draw on in order to do so.

The lesson is intended for students in year 10 to year 13. It is relevant both for those who wish to go to university and for those who plan to apply for jobs or apprenticeships after leaving school.

This activity is designed to help teachers run the TARGETcareers Futurewise Degree Explorer assessment in class with their students. The Degree Explorer helps school or college students to consider which university subjects would suit them best. It can be used either with sixth form students (S5/S6 in Scotland), or with Year 11/S4 students so that they can then choose A level/Higher/IB subjects that fit their degree aspirations.

The activity will fit into a time-slot of around 30 minutes. You can then use activity 2 and activity 3 in subsequent lessons as follow-ons to help students to reflect on and make use of their Degree Explorer results.