Student support
Our specialist staff will support you throughout your time at College, so that you can develop the skills and qualifications you need to move onto the next stage of your life.
Careers & UCAS support
Our careers team are available to support you on your journey from the moment you enrol at City of Portsmouth College, to the moment you leave and go onto the next stage in achieving your career. Alongside this, the careers education and various employability skills are imbedded through the college tutorial program.
Equality and diversity principles are embedded to challenge stereotypical thinking and raise aspirations. We deliver a planned programme designed to offer you the most appropriate support at various stages of your course. At City of Portsmouth College we adhere to the Gatsby Benchmarks, so that we can make sure we are offering a high standard of support to all of our learners.
You can find out more about Gatsby College Guidance by clicking here.
Everything we offer is to help our learners unlock their full potential, and the careers team are on hand to help you achieve your goals.
‘Pre- Entry'
- Open evenings give prospective students the opportunity to visit our campuses and see the exciting range of courses COPC has to offer. The careers team are available at these events to give advice and guidance to support the young person choosing the right course for their career aspirations.
- Liaison activities at our feeder schools
- Taster sessions
- Feeder schools have the opportunity to take part in taster days at the college
- Support and guidance for students on and after publication of exam results
We can support you with:
- One-to-one careers guidance interviews
- Careers events, workshops and talks, including speakers from industry
- UCAS application support
- Student finance talks for our current UCAS students
- Gap year advice
- Support for CV writing and job applications
- Apprenticeship and application support
- Printed and electronic resources for additional support
- Progression support
We also hold a number of careers events throughout the year which provide excellent research and networking opportunities.
Events include:
- Higher education fairs
- Careers and Next steps Fairs
- Construction careers fair
- Careers fairs for SEND students and parents
- Regular visits to universities and employer venues.
For Parents/carers:
- Careers information evening for parents / carers
- Parent / Carer Higher Education Finance talks for current students
For Employers:
Would you like to ‘showcase your business’ to our motivated and enthusiastic students? We offer opportunities for you to talk to our students at various occasions throughout the academic year-
- Careers and next steps fair to talk to students about your job vacancies and apprenticeships
- Inspirational careers related talks and workshops
- Offer work experience opportunities
Careers Education, Information Advice and Guidance Policy
Additional careers guidance from UCAS
Please use the helpful widget below to find more useful careers guidance and resources provided by UCAS.
Useful downloads
Careers Programme 2023-24
As a student here, you’ll benefit from our well-established careers programme. We have an expert careers team and many resources on hand to give you all the guidance you need to make fully-informed decisions about those all-important next steps.
Employability Workbook
Check out some hints and tips to help build your unique CV and be interview ready to start your career.
Entering Employment Workbook
We know that entering employment and self-employment can be overwhelming, so we have put together a quick guide on exploring the options available to you and the need-to-knows for each one, which we hope will be helpful.
Try the Careerometer!
Careerometer can be used to explore and compare key information about occupations, help you learn about different occupations and identify potential careers.
It provides access to a selection of UK headline data relating to pay, weekly hours of work and future employment prospects for different occupations, as well as description of the occupation.
Simply type in the title of the job you are interested in and the widget provides a series of options from which you can select the most relevant to you. You can then look up another two occupations and compare. You can also select ‘display the UK average’ and compare the information with the occupation you have selected.