News and Events

The Skills Show takes place on 15-17 November 2012 at the NEC Birmingham. Visitors will see skills in action, they’ll get to have a go at a range of new skills, meet employers and get specialist careers and industry advice. The Skills Show will inspire the fashion designers, web developers, & engineers of tomorrow!

 Skills Show 2012 (803.52 kB)

Over 5,500 Year 12 students from Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes and other neighbouring counties attended the UCAS sponsored Higher Education Conference held on 18^th and 19^th April at the University of Northampton’s Park Campus.

The event, organised by Connexions Northamptonshire, gave students the opportunity to visit stands from over 100 different universities and other institutions, discuss their higher education options with representatives as well as attend a range of talks. These covered specific study areas and more general topics such as the UCAS application process, student life and student finance.

Northamptonshire Libraries are looking for a team of volunteers to act as reading buddies to children aged 4-12 years taking part in the Summer Reading Challenge this summer. 

All libraries offer the summer reading challenge starting on Saturday July 14th 2012 and running throughout the summer holidays. 

Volunteers will be offered training and will be asked to commit to 10-15 hours (or more) volunteer activity over the summer holiday in their local library.  Training will be offered in late June/early July at several locations around the county.  Volunteers will receive a certificate to show they have taken part. There is also an opportunity to receive accreditation from Vinspired. See www.nvya.co.uk for more information (Northamptonshire Voluntary Youth Action).

If this sounds like the sort of thing you’d like to be involved in please apply online at www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/srcvolunteer  You can contact Rosalind Robinson for more information on 01604 368189 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

SEVEN Apprenticeship and Jobs Fairs will be held across the county to help match young people who are looking for a job or training with local employers and training providers.

The events are being organised by Connexions Northamptonshire with funding and support from the Northamptonshire Leadership Group.

Wellingborough Fair @ Tithe Barn
- Monday 19th March 2012, 2pm to 5pm

Northampton Fair @ The Guildhall
- Friday 23rd March 2012, 2pm to 5pm

Corby Fair @ The Corby Cube
- Wednesday 4th April 2012, 2pm to 5pm

South Northants @ Towcester Hall
– Wednesday 18th April 2012, 2pm to 5pm

Daventry Fair @ The ICON
- Thursday 19th April 2012, 2pm to 5pm

East Northants Fair @ Rushden Hall
- Thursday 26th April 2012, 2pm to 5pm

Kettering Fair @ The Kettering Conference Centre
- Monday 30th April 2012, 2pm to 5pm

NOW in its fifth year, National Apprenticeship Week takes place between 6-10 February 2012 with activities and events across the country to:

• highlight the range of Apprenticeships and progression routes;
• highlight the talent and skills of apprentices; and
• engage and persuade employers to the advantages of employing and supporting apprentices in their workplace. 

There are currently 170 job vacancies countywide on our http://www.jobs4you2.org.uk/ website.  All of these vacancies have either in-house training or apprenticeship training so that you can continue to learn and develop whilst in the workplace.

For more information about events happening locally during the week visit http://goo.gl/By4HL or watch the film ‘Understanding Apprenticeships’ at http://goo.gl/typ47

The Northamptonshire UCAS Higher Education Conference, organised by Connexions will be held at the University of Northampton, Park Campus on 18th & 19th April 2012.  Northamptonshire schools are encouraged to attend on 18th April, with 19th being mainly for Milton Keynes & Bucks schools, and other out of county schools.  Booking is done by schools and colleges online at www.ucasevents.com/conventions and the event code for 18th April is northamptonshire12.  To attend on 19th the code is mk12.  If your school or college has not booked you to attend you can book independently on the same website.  Other pre-event information for visitors is also available on that site.

There will be over 110 higher educaton institutions exhibiting and a range of some 26 different talks covering general HE topics as well as a variety of subjects.  This is a great opportunity to explore higher eduation options.

We have produced a booklet for the event which will be delivered to Northamptonshire schools and colleges before the end of this term, so that they can prepare for their visit.  Out of county schools, colleges and individuals can collect their copies on arrival at the event. There is also be preparation material on www.ucas.com/prep.   For further information contact Jane Shearer by
email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or on 01604 614932 (Wednesdays and Thursdays).

Below is a copy of this year's H.E. Conference booklet available for download.

H.E. Conference booklet 2012 (5.99 MB)

From September 2013 young people must continue in education or training to age 17 and from September 2015 young people must continue in education or training to age 18. The government is changing the age at which young people can leave learning known as the Raising of the Participation Age (RPA). This doesn’t mean you have to stay at school, read what your options are in our leaflet or visit the Department for Education.

 Raising of the participation age (334.9 kB)

Find more information on the Department for Education website

eCLIPS is an online resource which covers over 1,200 jobs and careers, as well as providing information on approximately 100 lifestyle topics.  There are several ways of finding information:

Search by A-Z Index
Select from the A-Z index to find out about careers of interest for example chef, lifeguard, teacher, plumber, hairdresser, health visitor and lots more. You can also search school subjects to find related careers such as history, maths, English, art and design. 

Find by Job group
Select from a range of work categories for example, design, arts and crafts; engineering; healthcare; computers and IT; languages, information and culture and many others.  You can then look at the types of careers involved.

The Young Leaders Team for 2011 – 2013 were elected on Thursday 3rd November at a glittering and colourful event held at The Park Inn Hotel. The event, lead by the outgoing Young Leader Rachael Goulbourn and Councillor Jim Harker, leader of Northamptonshire County Council, was attended by over 90 guests.

A presentation was made to the outgoing team and a huge welcome made to the new team. Shannon Howard (the elected Young Leader for Northampton) was nominated as the county's Young Leader. Shannon will work alongside Klejda Cupi (Corby), Joseph Paterson (Daventry), Lauren Rowe (Kettering) and Chantal Roberts (South Northants) for the coming two years.

Our Fact File for all year 9 students (and some year 8s if you make your options early) are being delivered this week to all mainstream schools, academies and pupil referral units. The Fact File has three sections:

• About Connexions: information about Connexions and how you can see an adviser or get in touch.
• Careers Section: information to help you think about your options including: choosing your subjects, qualifications, linking subjects to jobs, publications and software, the world of work and case studies.