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News From North East March 2006

Inside this issue...

Click on to your chosen topic from here.

CITB Scholarships

Anyone thinking of starting a Construction related degree course in Autumn 2006 can apply for a ConstructionSkills Inspire Scholarship, which offers:

  • Up to £9,000 grant to support you during your university course
  • A 10-week work placement with your sponsor employer in the summer
  • Entrance to a competition in your second year that could net you another £4,000.

For further information visit the bconstructive scholarship website.

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Graduate Careers

All Higher Education Careers Services in Scotland extend their specialist expertise to graduates living in Scotland up to one year after their graduation, subject to availability.  Some provide services to their own graduates for a considerably longer period.  They offer help with issues such as career choice, career change, job hunting and applications/CVs/interviews: provided in the context of the graduate labour market.

Visit Scotland's Graduate Careers Website.

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Change to Admissions to Medicine - UKCAT Test

The UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT) will be used in the selection process by a consortium of UK university Medical and Dental Schools, with effect from the summer of 2006 for entry in 2007, including deferred entry for 2008.

The UKCAT must be taken by all applicants applying to study medicine or dentistry, at the following university Medical and Dental Schools:

Aberdeen University
University of Birmingham
Brighton and Sussex Medical School
Cardiff University
Dundee University
University of Durham
University of East Anglia
University of Edinburgh
University of Glasgow
Hull York Medical School
Keele University
King’s College London
University of Leeds

University of Leicester
University of Manchester
University of Newcastle
University of Nottingham
University of Oxford Graduate Entry Medical Degree
Peninsula Medical School
Queen Mary, University of London
University of Sheffield
University of Southampton
University of St Andrews
St George’s, University of London

The UKCAT is designed to be a test of aptitude rather than strictly academic achievement. The test will assess a wide range of mental abilities and behavioural attributes identified by university Medical and Dental schools as important.

For candidates sitting the examination in summer 2006 the UKCAT will consist of four subtests:

  • Verbal reasoning -  assesses candidates’ ability to think logically about written information and arrive at a reasoned conclusion.
  • Quantitative reasoning - assesses candidates’ ability to solve numerical problems.
  • Abstract reasoning -    assesses candidates’ ability to infer relationships from information by convergent and divergent thinking.
  • Problem solving - assesses candidates’ ability to deal with various forms of information, to infer relationships, to make informed judgements, and to decide on an appropriate response.

Including warm-up time (which is the time allocated to reading the instructions) the test will be delivered in less than two hours.  Each of the subtests will be in a multiple choice format and will be separately timed.

Registering to take the UKCAT does not constitute an application for admission to any of the participating universities.  In addition to registering to take the UKCAT, candidates will need to submit an application to UCAS in the normal manner.

Candidates will be able to register to take the UKCAT in June 2006.  Registration for the UKCAT will only be available online, via the UKCAT website. The website launches in April 2006.

There will be no fixed date for sitting the exam, but candidates wishing to apply for entry to the participating universities in 2007 or intending to apply in 2006, for deferred entry in 2008, will be required to take the UKCAT before the 28 September 2006 deadline.  It is recommended that candidates schedule to sit the UKCAT in July and register in June 2006, to ensure that places are available at their chosen test centre.

The cost to sit the UKCAT is £60 for candidates taking the test in the European Union (EU) and £95 for other candidates. EU candidates who register in June and complete the test by the end of July will receive a £5 discount.

It is intended to provide bursaries under which the UKCAT test fee is waived for cases of real hardship. Candidates will need to apply online for a bursary before registering for the UKCAT.

Further information on sitting the UKCAT will be available on the UKCAT website when the site is launched in April 2006.

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Partners in Advocacy

Partners in Advocacy Dundee has been providing independent citizen advocacy to people with learning disabilities in Dundee since 1998.

Citizen Advocacy for Adults, Children and Young People is about matching people with a volunteer, who they prepare and support to act as their citizen advocate.  A citizen advocate gets to know their advocacy partner over a period of time - usually meeting up once a week or fortnight, and often sharing social activities. The advocate supports the person to speak up for themselves, and tries to ensure that their rights and wishes are taken into account by the people who have power in their lives.  Citizen advocacy partnerships aim to be mutually rewarding and long lasting.  Citizen advocates are provided with ongoing support and training in their role.

They are looking for volunteers who are good listeners, who like getting to know people, and who can speak out against unfairness.

For further information contact Joyce McQuilken or Winnie Duncan on 01382 305715 or e-mail:   or .

Their postal address is 10 Constitution Road, Dundee, DD1 1LL.

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The Year in Industry

Scope and Aim of Programme

  • To encourage young people to experience real work within industry especially in science, engineering, business, IT and technology.
  • To offer a way of acquiring high quality and challenging work experience in the field of their chosen career.
  • To offer the opportunity of earning money and increase the chances of university sponsorship.

Placements

Previous placements have included:

  • New Product Development 
  • Production Process Efficiencies
  • Environmental and Quality Systems
  • Market Research  
  • Feasibility Studies
  • Project Statistical Review and Analysis
  • IT Development   
  • Business Process Analysis

Duration: 

One academic year with flexible start and end dates.

Start Dates:

July, August, September – flexible.

Eligibility:

Must be intending to go to university and be eligible to work in the UK – you do not have to have deferred your entry.

Salary:                      

Salaries range from £8,500 to £12,000.

Project Support:

  • The Year in Industry and Company plan the placement.
  • The Year in Industry will administer the entire recruitment process with the company.  The company carries out the selection and interviewing of suitable students.
  • The Year in Industry will assign a Mentor for guidance throughout the placement.
  • An existing employee will be identified to act as a Company Supervisor to ensure maximum benefits are gained from the scheme.

For information on vacancies visit the Year in Industry website or contact 0141 548 4152.

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Territorial Army Summer Challenge

The Territorial Army have been in touch to tell us about a new initiative for people aged 17 - 32 aimed at encouraging interest in joining the TA.

Summer Challenge starts on July 1st and runs for seven weeks until August 20th. Participants get regular army pay and all accommodation. The courses include driving lessons, first aid, team building, adventure training, and map reading.

There are 250 places available on the programme which is being run in partnership with JobCentre Plus.

For more information visit the Scottish Soldier website.

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Food and Drink Manufacturing

This is one of the largest sectors in the UK.  As an industry it currently employs over 650,000 people in over 30,000 companies in the UK and makes up 17% of UK Manufacturing GDP.

Improve is the sector skills council for food and drink manufacturing and processing. They cover the following areas:

  • Bakery
  • Brewery
  • Dairy
  • Distillery
  • Drinks Processing
  • Food Processing
  • Meat and Poultry
  • Sea fish

The has a section aimed at careers advisers and teachers.

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Scottish Executive Website

 

Date Subject Publication
28/02/2006 Education Pupils in Scotland, 2005 (Publication)
Pupils Census September 2005 Results
06/03/2006 Education Further Education and Complex Needs: Views of Children and Young People(Report)
This publication was produced by the CALL Centre and summarises the findings of interviews conducted with children/young people with complex needs, of their experiences and aspirations of further education
08/03/2006 Education

Helping you meet the costs of learning: What support is available for young Scottish students in Higher Education in 2006-2007(Publication)
This information sheet explains the fee and living cost arrangements for young students who normally live and plan to study full-time in Scotland

08/03/2006 Education Helping you meet the costs of learning: Information for new Higher Education Scottish students choosing to study in England, Wales or Northern Ireland 2006-2007(Publication)
This information sheet explains the fee and living costs arrangements for new students who normally live in Scotland and who are planning to study full-time elsewhere in the UK.
13/03/2006 Education Helping you meet the costs of learning: Your guide to Funding 2006-2007(Publication)
This guide gives an overview of the funding available from August 2006 for learners or potential learners and is a useful guide to practitioners giving advice to others
14/03/2006 Education Statistics Publication Notice: Education Series: SQA Attainment and School Leaver Qualifications in Scotland: 2004/05(Publication)
This Statistics Publication Notice presents information on the attainment of National Qualifications by pupils attending publicly funded secondary schools and by school leavers. Selected information on attainment in special schools is also included.

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Froth and Bubble

The National Library of Scotland website has a fascinating collection of items.  Its digital library of web features is still developing but definitely worth a visit.  Items include:

  • Maps of the counties of Scotland, 1580-1928.  Thousands of zoomable maps of Scotland for the period 1560-1928.
  • Photographs from the Edinburgh Calotype Club.  The club was formed in the early 1840s, the first photographic club in the world.
  • Nine of the earliest books printed in Scotland, in or around 1508
  • Almost one thousand years of Scotland's history via an interactive timeline (an absolute boon for my young friend Vic who finds Scottish history a bit of a struggle).

And finally… all you ever wanted to know about toothpaste…

‘The history of toothpaste’…’Interesting facts’…’toothpaste news’… all can be found at the Toothpaste World website.

Also visit Leo's Toothpaste Collection website.
You will find a hugely impressive collection of photographs of tubes of toothpaste.  It’s certainly the best I’ve come across.

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Contributions

If you would like to contribute an item to the newsletter we would be delighted to hear from you.  Contributions can be emailed to info.ne@careers-scotland.org.uk or faxed to 01592 623199