A NEW scheme is to launch at a Yorkshire Dales school to give students top careers advice from high-profile employers.

Current and ex-pupils of Sedbergh School, aged between 14 and 25, will be able to take advantage of the Next Steps Show which launches on May 23.

Exhibitors at the event will include Ernst & Young, the BBC, York University, Newcastle University, University of British Columbia, New College of the Humanities, Camargue Chambers LLP and Impact International.

Headmaster Andrew Fleck said: “There is a national drive to improve the standard of careers advice in schools.

“It is something we have been delivering successfully through time-tabled lessons and guest speaker events, and through one-to-one contact with teachers who have industry experience.

“But with the increase in competition for university places and jobs, we identified a need to create more networking opportunities and to ensure pupils and old Sedberghians think about and plan their next step from a position of knowledge.”

In March 2014, Ofsted’s chief schools inspector Sir Michael Willshaw highlighted the need for a national drive to improve the standard of careers advice in schools.

A survey carried out by the Government showed that three out of every four state schools visited had not been delivering an adequate service and the Confederation of British Industry director John Cridland said last year that careers advice in schools was on ‘life support’.

Sedbergh School also recently launched its second vocational course for sixth formers this year, a BTEC Diploma in Agriculture – a new route into Veterinary Medicine and Engineering.

The Next Steps Show will take place during the day and will be followed in the evening by a networking social gathering for sixth formers, recent graduates, exhibitors and parents.

Skills workshops and seminars will include: ‘IT… it’s not just for geeks’, ‘Getting into Law’, ‘So what’s so special about you?’, ‘Life in front of and behind the camera – getting into the media sector’, ‘Preparing for Interview’ and ‘A Doctor’s Lot’.