Work Experience

Introduction

St Thomas Aquinas Catholic School offers Year 10 students the opportunity to perform a week-long work experience placement. In 2026, the week commencing 6th – 10th July will be open to students to attend a placement at a business or service provider.

Work experience is vital for Year 10 students in the UK as it provides invaluable real-world insights into potential careers. By participating in work experience, students can explore different industries, develop essential skills, and gain a deeper understanding of the workplace. This hands-on experience enables them to make informed decisions about their future career paths, aligning their strengths and interests with potential professions.

Work experience also fosters the development of crucial skills, such as communication, teamwork, and problem-solving, which are highly valued by employers. Students learn to adapt to new environments, take on responsibilities, and build professional relationships. Moreover, work experience enhances their CVs, making them more attractive to further education, universities and future employers.

In an increasingly competitive job market, work experience provides students with a distinct advantage. It allows them to demonstrate their capabilities, work ethic, and passion for a particular field. By participating in work experience, Year 10 students can unlock their potential, gain confidence, and set themselves up for success in their future careers. With its numerous benefits, work experience is an essential component of a student's educational journey, preparing them for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead."

Therefore, students are given the responsibility of organising their own work experience placements. Students who organise their work experience are more likely to engage on that placement, will have a greater sense of ownership of that placement and the placement will be more closely tailored to their interests. Additionally, students will develop their communication skills and develop dialogue with real employers.

We are unable to provide students or parents/carers with a list of businesses that they can try contacting, however, students can visit the Careers Leader (Mrs Lavin) and myself (Mr Stephenson) to discuss how to find placements and how to contact employers. Support will be offered during form times and Personal Development lessons to encourage students to begin the process of searching for, and contacting, businesses. One of the easiest ways to find a place of work is to use a maps search tool (e.g. Google Maps) to search the area close to where you live, to see which businesses operate in that locality. Year 10 students are also able to use public transport to access different areas of the city, opening more placement options in and around Birmingham. Primary schools, leisure centres, libraries, restaurants, cafés, museums, aquariums, universities, colleges, barbers/hairdressers, charity shops, Birmingham or Solihull city council, car show rooms, vehicle garages, care homes, football clubs, sports clubs, supermarkets, chain retailers and independent retailers are typical examples of placements that successfully accept our students and pass the required health and safety checks.

Students must complete a ‘pre-placement’ form (which will be done through the ‘Placement Tool’ on UNIFROG) and fill in electronically by Friday 13th February 2026. All sections of this form must be completed otherwise the form may be returned. If a student fails to fill in the confirmation of placement information by the 12th February 2026 date, it cannot be guaranteed that a health and safety check will be performed in time, resulting in the placement being rejected.

Students are encouraged to be proactive in the weeks and months leading up to their placement, communicating with the placement, enquiring what clothing they will need to wear, what times they are to work between, what the arrangements for lunch are, etc.

Students and parents should be aware that if a health and safety check of the business is unable to be performed because the employer fails to provide the required documentation, the placement will fail its health and safety check. A placement cannot be authorised by St Thomas Aquinas Catholic School if the health and safety checks are either not completed or the placement is rejected on other grounds. It should also be highlighted that a student cannot attend another student’s placement, even if that placement has already been health and safety checked for the first student, without first submitting a Placement Tool confirmation form via Unifrog. The health and safety may not cover multiple students on a placement, and the school has a safeguarding obligation resulting in each individual application needing to be checked.

Students will be communicated with through the placement tool on Unifrog to inform them of whether their placement is successful or has experienced issues with its health and safety checks. This is to keep the onus on the students, so that they maintain responsibility for their placement. Parents/carers will not be contacted directly unless they request specific information by emailing the Work Experience lead Mr Stephenson.

Mr Fred Stephenson
Work Experience & Inspiring Futures Coordinator

Unifrog

Unifrog Login

St Thomas Aquinas Catholic School & Sixth Form

Work Experience

Introduction

Unifrog

Work Experience - Documentation

Lumen Christi Catholic Multi Academy