Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Resources for Parents
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Parents, carers and guardians play an important part in the career and education choices of young people and there are increasing options for navigating the onward journey from school into higher education, apprenticeships or work. Below is a selection of online resources to help parents have discussions about these options with their children, using information that is as accurate and current as possible. If you are looking for something specific that is not covered here, please get in touch via careers@mtsn.org.uk
All pupils also have access to career-related information including work experience and career insight opportunities via the ‘Careers at Merchant Taylors School’ website on the student MyMTS portal. Pupils in 4ths upwards have a personalised Morrisby profile which includes a large library of information on different careers, including video clips, links to professional bodies, information on key qualifications needed and possible pathways into the career.
Finally, all pupils can access a wide range of personal career-related guidance support from the Careers office, including help finding or preparing for work experience, support with CV writing and applications, general and specific careers information, support around university choices as well as career and education decision making. Pupils can email careers@mtsn.org.uk for an appointment, or simply pop into the Careers office to speak to us directly during break or lunchtimes.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
The word ‘parent’ is used to refer to parents, carers and guardians
General websites
Parental Guidance: This site offers a range of general careers information and advice and is produced and updated by the Careers Writers Association.
Career Mag for Parents: Published by Careermap, this online magazine supports parents with advice and guidance on careers and further education choices.
National Careers Service: This government website is a national resource for all ages and stages and has useful sections on many topics including skills development, volunteering, gap year planning, career research, work experience, and support for people with disabilities entering education or work.
University applications
UCAS University Guide for Parents: UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, is the UK’s shared admissions service for higher education. There is lots of excellent support information on the UCAS website for making post-18 choices including this guide specifically aimed at parents.
Guardian University League Table and The Complete University Guide are two well regarded league tables. There is no single league table that is ‘the best’. Each publisher takes a slightly different approach to calculating their rankings. Also important to note is that the overall institution league table position does not always reflect the positions of all subject courses at that institution.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
UCAS: Student Finance – Guide for Parents Attending university has a cost. This parent guide using information from Student Finance England (SFE) is published by UCAS.
Apprenticeships (including Degree Apprenticeships)
Amazing Apprenticeships is a leading apprenticeship organisation working with education and employers. Their website contains lots of excellent resources including monthly ‘parent packs’ and podcasts.
RateMyApprenticeship.co.uk This site bases its information on ratings from apprentices. It has a parent’s guide section among lots of other useful information.
Labour Market Information
Graduate employment prospects are one of the factors often used to select university courses. High Fliers research publish reports about the graduate market compiled from interviews with over 12,000 graduates who left university the previous year.
The Edge Foundation produces a regular series of Skills Shortage Bulletins exploring skills shortages across key areas of the economy.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills