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Academies within the Midland Academies Trust were celebrating in December as the quality of their careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) was recognised by the national awarding body. All four academies within the Trust were presented with the National Quality in Careers Standard and the Ixion Gold award. The Trust was the first in England to receive the Ixion Gold award for all of its academies award simultaneously.   

The prestigious award is England’s dedicated national quality standard which provides robust external assessments against all the components of CEIAG. The Department for Education strongly recommends that all state-funded secondary schools, academies, and further education colleges work towards, achieve, and maintain this national standard as part of its careers strategy.

The award was presented to the Trust by Michele Squire, Careers Education Strategic Manager for Ixion (part of the Shaw Trust). Attending the celebrations were pupils, principals and careers leaders from Hartshill Academy, George Eliot Academy, Nuneaton Academy and Heath Lane Academy. 

Claire Cooke, Strategic Lead for Careers, Transition and Partnerships at the Midland Academies Trust said, “The Quality in Careers standard reflects the commitment to careers throughout all the Trust schools. We believe that every pupil benefits from a wide variety of careers’ experiences starting in Year 7. Careers information, advice and guidance provides all our pupils with the insight and knowledge to help them make informed decisions.”

Debbie Partridge, Careers and Employability Manager at the Midland Academies Trust said, “Receiving this award has provided us with a clear framework to evaluate and develop all aspects of our careers provision. There has been whole school commitment to the standard with teachers supporting the careers focus through their subject teaching. The scheme has helped to raise the profile of careers within the school agenda, and we look forward to continuing to offer all our pupils highly informative experiences in the future.”

Marion Plant, OBE FCGI, CEO of the Midland Academies Trust said, “Congratulations to all our academies on this fantastic achievement. We are particularly proud to be the first Trust where together all of the academies have received the Ixion Gold award for the first time. Enabling young people to see for themselves some of the roles that they could follow as part of exciting careers is an essential element of our Trust ethos and I am delighted that the hard work and dedication of our colleagues has been recognised in this way.”