Careerpilot, the careers website, hosted by the University of Bath and jointly funded by 20 university partners and 6 National Collaborative Outreach Programmes (NCOPS), has recently been awarded a prestigious award by the Careers Development Institute (CDI), the national careers professional body, in the category ‘Providing Careers and Job Information’.

Careerpilot, developed by the Western Vocational Progression Consortium (WVPC), started as a small venture in 2011, with one member of staff and the support of twelve universities.

It has expanded to become a well-regarded and well-used careers site for 13-19 year-olds across the South of England providing impartial, inspirational information about qualifications and career choices available at 14, 16 and 18, including job sectors and links to hundreds of providers.

Commenting upon the award Sue Lewis the Project Co-ordinator said, “We are delighted to receive this award especially as it comes from the prestigious Careers Development Institute. Knowing this award has been given to Careerpilot by those at the top of the careers profession makes it even more special”.

The site had a record 420,000 users in 2016-17 including parents and advisers as well as students who can access local and national information from reliable and validated websites in one place. Registered students can personalise their choices and utilise features such as the Skills Map Tool designed to capture their skills in preparation for applications and interviews. The central team which now consist of 4 staff and delivery teams in local areas, provides training and coordination to support effective Careerpilot delivery by local Widening Participation and NCOP Teams.

Annette Hayton, Head of Widening Participation at the University of Bath and Chair of the WVPC said, “Our partner universities have provided fantastic support over the years allowing us to develop Careerpilot showing the benefit of universities collaborating to widen participation and support schools.”

Mike Nicholson, Director of Student Recruitment & Admissions at the University of Bath added, “Since its launch, Careerpilot has gone from strength to strength from the number of funding partners to the number of end users. This excellent award is well deserved and a clear endorsement of the activity that Careerpilot has been undertaking.”