The survey is ready for schools for the start of the Summer term, and is pitched at students in Years 9 to 11.  The survey takes students around seven minutes to complete from a link, and Careers Leaders in schools are presented with findings both on an individual level, on a line-by-line basis for every participating pupil, and school cohort level.  These results also enable Careers Leaders to compare their school’s findings with results from other schools, on an anonymised basis.  Careers Leaders find that the survey is useful to inform resourcing decisions, and of course to provide even better individual support for your students.

In addition, as in the previous version, students are invited to give their thinking on prospective destinations, such as apprenticeships, traineeships, T-Levels and university, including giving reasons for their thinking on these destinations.  We have also asked specific questions about work experience, developed in conjunction with Bradford Council, to look at local provision.

The previous Litmus survey in Bradford saw 1,065 students take part from 12 schools across the region, in telling us about their Careers Frame of Mind, Industry Interests, Skills, and a host of other responses in relation to their future aspirations and thinking about Careers.  The top three industries reportedly of interest to Bradford students were, for girls, healthcare, education and Beauty & Hair; for boys, Engineering, Sports & Fitness and IT.  

Students in Bradford had a similar degree of focus in their Careers thinking, and similar levels of confidence across eight key skills, to their counterparts nationally.  It will be interesting to revisit these trends in the light of the pandemic, and this year’s survey includes reflections on how the pandemic has affected Careers thinking

The full review of results from the previous Bradford survey can be found here showing an overall review and the underlying data. If you would like your school to take part, or have any questions, please contact Richard Petty at richard.petty@trinity.ox.ac.uk.