Mayor meets pupils at Beacon Hill Academy on GCSE results day

Mayor of the West Midlands, Richard Parker offered his congratulations and some words of encouragement to anxious pupils getting their GCSE results at a school in the Black Country today (Thursday August 22).

The Mayor was at Beacon Hill Academy in Sedgley where he met some of the thousands of young people across the country eagerly awaiting their results.

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), which is chaired by the Mayor works with the Careers and Enterprise Company, through locally based Careers Hubs to provide careers advice for young people – supporting more than 290 schools and colleges across the region.

Beacon Hill Academy (part of Dudley Academies Trust - which runs an award-winning careers programme), works with the Black Country Careers Hub to offer careers advice and local work experience opportunities to their pupils.

Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands and WMCA chair, said: “Congratulations to everyone on your GCSE results! Be proud of what you’ve achieved. I’m confident you have a bright future ahead.

“Work experience has been an eye-opener for many, which is why I support businesses like Thomas Dudley that give countless young people a taste of their future careers.

And if your results weren’t what you hoped for, don’t worry - there are plenty of options. I know what it’s like to leave school without the grades you’d want, but with the right support, you can still achieve great things. Make sure to connect with your careers advisors for guidance and support."

Lowell Williams, chair of the board of trustees, Dudley Academies Trust, said: “The Trust has a strong commitment to providing high quality careers education for learners in all year groups. This is evidenced by all our schools achieving Ixion’s Gold Standard Award for The Quality in Careers Standard, which is remarkable. This focus on careers clearly contributes to our aspirant culture and positive climate for learning. It is wonderful to see how this enables our learners to achieve excellent outcomes and to have the opportunity to celebrate with them, our staff, their parents and carers today.” 

Martin Dudley, chief executive of Thomas Dudley Ltd, a long-established manufacturing and engineering business employing over 500 people at a range of sites in Dudley, was also at the Beacon Hill Academy this morning.

Martin acts as an enterprise adviser through the Black Country Careers Hub to the Academy and arranges visit to their sites to give pupils first-hand experience of what working the in the sector would be like.

He said, “Young people joining us for work experience get a taste of what it might be like to work in the manufacturing and engineering sector – hopefully creating a passion for future career.”

“Talking to people employed in the industry and seeing how it all works helps them to think about what skills they can develop to progress a career in this industry – I strongly encourage young people take up the opportunity to see work in action and call on local business to offer work experience.”

WMCA has developed a post exam guide full of useful information and advice for young people thinking about what to do next - available to download from the WMCA website: What can I do with my exam results? (wmca.org.uk)

What Next? Careers & Employment Fairs are on offer to inspire and inform young people and adults of career pathways, local opportunities for training and jobs and to provide insight on health and community support services.

The events will be open to attendees between 10.30am and 4pm at the following locations and booking information is available at the links below:

• Tuesday 27th August 2024 | Walsall | Walsall Football Club
• Thursday 29th August 2024 | Wolverhampton | Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club
• Monday 9th September 2024 | Sandwell | Brasshouse Community Centre

Dudley Academies Trust has an award-winning careers programme which is delivered across its family of schools (two primary and four secondary). They received the Ixion’s Gold Standard Award for The Quality in Careers Standard in February 2024. Announcement of award: Dudley Academies Trust - Secondary schools achieve national award.