Bedelsford School is proud to offer careers guidance and support to all our pupils throughout their time with Bedelsford, from Nursery to Key Stage 5. We ensure that students and families are supported in developing each individual’s career identity, and work hard to ensure that when each student leaves Bedelsford they are fully equipped to succeed in their adult lives.
For students at Bedelsford, ‘Careers,’ means ‘Futures,’ in the broadest possible sense of the word, and includes developing social engagement opportunities after 19 so that our alumni do not face social isolation after leaving school and college, but are instead supported to access, and live full and happy lives within, their community after they leave Bedelsford.
Details of our current Careers provision can be found below.
This information was most recently updated in April 2026 and is due for review by April 2027.
Jessica Beaton has overall responsibility for the careers programme at Bedelsford. Pupils, parents, teachers and employers can contact Jess by the school office or by email: jbeaton@bedelsfordschool.org or telephone: 020 8546 9838.
Bedelsford School is committed to providing high quality careers guidance and advice. Our Provider Access Policy gives details of how training providers can visit the school to offer eligible students information and advice about career pathways.
You will have a chance to meet with employers and experience work in Secondary and Sixth Form.
We will invite employers such as the emergency services, who you will need to learn about and may interact with in later life, to speak with you about what they do and how they help look after you. You will also have a chance to work on a farm, in a café, and in the Sixth Form office.
We will give you individual advice in your annual reviews, and we will take you to careers fairs so you can meet people who you might work with after you leave.
We will help you work towards an accreditation in either Life or Work Skills in Sixth Form so that you are prepared to life and work with as much independence as you can after you leave school.
You will have a chance to participate in the running of a business, through the Sixth Form enterprise curriculum, where you will learn to carry out product surveys, make products, sell items, and keep track of the money you are making.
We will also have our own careers fair in the Summer Term to which you are invited – and our Alumnus Day, where your old friends will visit again to say hello and tell you what they have done since leaving!
Bedelsford offers an innovative and exciting career programme for our pupils and students. Students participate in careers learning opportunities that are carefully tailored to each student’s individual needs and are consistent with the eight Gatsby benchmarks:
We provide individualised guidance in annual reviews, and visit careers fairs as well as hosting our own in the Summer Term. We have strong links with local colleges within and outside the Orchard Hill College and Academy Trust. Our enterprise curriculum is structured into the entire Sixth Form and provides students with opportunities to learn about running a business, from market research to tracking their finances.
Bedelsford School works closely with Heathrow Special Needs Centre, Park Lane Stables, St John’s Church, MENCAP, and others, to provide a comprehensive experience of, and preparation for, work and social activities after leaving school for all our students.
We are always looking to expand our work experience programme, and are eager to hear from any employer, college, or service that provides opportunities for work or for social engagement for adults with complex medical needs after they leave school.
Please get in touch with us if you would like to discuss your offer with us, and to work with our young people!
We also provide multiple different work experience opportunities including the Best Bedelsford Café at St John’s Church, and Heathrow Special Needs Centre.
Our curriculum is explicitly linked to careers at every stage and in every subject, so that our pupils and students are always being prepared for their future.
This culminates in our offer of Art Award, the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award, and either Independent Living or Using Employability Skills Entry levels through Ascentis.
For some students we also offer exams in English and Maths in Sixth Form where this appropriate. 100% of our students go onto further education or employment after leaving Bedelsford.
Our leavers are invited back annually at our Alumnus Day to tell us all about their lives after Bedelsford, and to meet their old friends and staff members.
We measure and assess the impact of our Careers provision through:
The effectiveness of our careers programme is measured also by retrospective feedback from families. We follow the progress of our alumni for three years to ensure that they continue to be supported as they progress into adulthood, and we invite our alumni back to school annually to share their adventures after Bedelsford with us and their friends.
Our curriculum builds careers learning into every subject and in every key stage.
Our curriculum intent is to enable our leaners to have meaningful participation in their own lives, and our careers programme (broadly defined as their future life after school) lays out the end goals for learners in each of our learning pathways.
We support our students to access their community with as much independence as possible, through our community visits, work experience curriculum, enterprise activities, careers and futures fairs, and our accreditations.
The courses we offer provide our students with a range of Life and Work Skills, opportunities to explore and participate in the arts, and explore and participate in their community.
We also offer residential trips to build the independence of our students, usually in Year 14 at the end of their time with us. Staff are encouraged to bring their skills and interests to our Enterprise activities and support our students.
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