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The Careers & Enterprise Company Award for Excellence in Careers and Enterprise



Guidance notes for application form

Applicants are invited to complete a bespoke application form for each Beacon Award. This form will give applicants the opportunity to address all the criteria that will be assessed: the Beacon Award criteria, and the bespoke sponsor’s criteria that is tailored for each award.

AoC Beacon Awards Criteria:

The Beacon Awards celebrate exemplary practice. In all applications you should evidence innovation, sustainability and impact, ensuring that you clearly show there are features which promote exemplary teaching and learning, and that the initiative has wider relevance and applicability. The application should demonstrate:

  • Bespoke evaluation/quality assurance to influence continuing development of the initiative
  • Regard to the promotion of equality and diversity in the delivery of the programme.
  • That there is clear evidence of impact and sustainability.
  • That it has features which actively promote exemplary teaching and learning
  • That it is of benefit for one or more groups of students, recipients or trainees
  • That it has wider relevance and applicability which makes it of significant value to other colleges as an example of outstanding practice or innovation.

The Careers & Enterprise Company Sponsor’s Criteria:

About The Careers & Enterprise Company (CEC)

As the national body for careers education in in England, we aim for high quality, modern careers education for everyone, everywhere so that all young people can find their best next steps.

We do this by:

  • Building Networks: we link schools and colleges to employers and other external careers providers through the Enterprise Adviser Network and Careers Hubs.
  • Supporting Careers Leaders: We provide training and support for Careers Leaders in schools and colleges.
  • Backing the Gatsby Benchmarks (GB): we support schools and colleges to implement best practice careers support with tools and targeted funding.

We want to recognise, celebrate and promote examples of outstanding and innovative careers leadership and practice which:

  • Demonstrate a ‘whole college’ stable careers programme which has;
  • the backing of the senior leadership team and governing body, ideally through a Careers ‘Link’ Governor
  • positive engagement with an Enterprise Adviser, supported through the CEC Network
  • positive engagement with the CEC Network through their engagement with an Enterprise Coordinator, a local college cluster meeting or a Careers Hub
  • highly effective systems to quality assure and improve the delivery of the college’s careers programme
  • carefully designed programmes to meet the needs of all learners, paying particular attention to the promotion of equality and diversity and especially to the needs of learners with special educational needs and disabilities
  • access for all staff involved in the delivery of careers to relevant training and CPD (GB1);
  • Develop effective partnerships with schools, employers and other education institutions and training providers, ensuring that all students have sufficient opportunity to explore the world of work and future pathways whether that be further study, training or employment (GB5,6 and 7);
  • Demonstrate an innovative approach to careers education that is carefully targeted at specific groups or individuals ensuring that learners make informed choices about their progression to further study and training, including apprenticeships or employment and they are supported into high quality, sustained, destinations (GB3);
  • Effectively use and evaluate labour market intelligence to enable up-to-date and sustainable guidance on education, training and employment opportunities (GB2);
  • Demonstrate excellent coordination and relationship building with the teaching and lecturing staff, responsible for delivering the careers content through their curriculum areas ensuring that everyone is working towards the same careers vision, delivering high quality teaching and learning with employers linked to curriculum areas actively involved (GB4);
  • Create opportunities for all learners to have a one to one guidance interview with a qualified practitioner whenever significant study or career choices are being made. The expectation is that this provision is for all learners but should be timed to meet individual needs (GB8).

The Careers & Enterprise Company Award for Excellence in Careers and Enterprise application form