Pupils to be advised by employers to pursue ambitious careers
10 Apr 2014 02:49 PM
New careers guidance will see employers playing
a larger role in careers advice in schools.
Pupils will be inspired and mentored by employers and
business leaders to pursue ambitious careers under new guidance for schools
published today by Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew
Hancock.
The
Department for Education guidance will ensure schools provide pupils with
experience of the world of work to give them the confidence and skills to
fulfil their potential.
It
will also highlight the importance of pupils gaining the skills that employers
must look for when hiring, such as maths and science
qualifications.
The
statutory guidance states a school’s careers and inspiration guidance
strategy should:
- offer mentoring and coaching, inspirational speakers,
workplace and higher education visits, networking events and careers
fairs
- use
initiatives that help to forge links between schools and employers, such as
Business in the Community, Career Academies and Inspiring the
Future
- ensure pupils have information on the full range of
education and training options
- measure the effectiveness of their careers and
inspiration activity by using official data on the education, training and
employment of previous pupils
Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock
said:
To
be successful in their future careers, young people need inspiration and
mentoring as much as advice. This important guidance will encourage schools to
help pupils develop high aspirations to realise their
potential.
Employers and those themselves in careers they love are
best placed to pass on knowledge and enthusiasm to young people. That is why we
are encouraging schools to build links with employers to ensure pupils leave
school with the skills employers need.
There is now no excuse for schools and colleges not to
engage local employers or for employers not to support schools and colleges to
help young people in the transition from education to
employment.
Today’s announcement comes as part of a broader
shift towards more rigorous careers guidance, as outlined in the
government’s inspiration vision statement, published in September 2013.
Other measures include:
- requiring schools to offer independent and impartial
careers guidance to pupils between the ages of 13 and 18
- giving the National Careers Service a greater role in
bringing schools and employers closer together
- Ofsted giving careers guidance a higher priority in
school inspections
The
guidance includes examples of schools that already offer innovative careers
guidance. Woodham Academy, in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, invited employers
working in the local business park to discuss careers with their pupils. This
led to conferences between their 14-year-old pupils and local employers, and an
Apprenticeship Challenge day involving speed-networking sessions with
businesses and employers mentoring pupils.
The
Charter School, an academy in Southwark, has formed mentoring and training
links with PricewaterhouseCoopers, magazine publishers IPC Media and
King’s College Hospital, among other local businesses. The
academy’s teachers also work with mentors to highlight their
pupils’ strengths and weaknesses, especially in maths, science and
languages. All the pupils on the mentoring scheme have obtained a place at
their chosen university or college, or found employment.
Brian Lightman, General Secretary of the Association of
School and College Leaders, said:
The
provision of high-quality careers guidance which enables young people to
navigate through the bewildering range of opportunities in a fast-moving world
remains an enormous challenge to schools.
We
are therefore pleased that this more detailed statutory and non-statutory
guidance has been prepared and includes case study examples of how schools are
approaching the challenge.
Jake Hayman, founder of Future First, which sets up
links mentoring and work experience networks with state schools,
said:
We
know that young people, particularly from less advantaged backgrounds, often
don’t know about the huge range of opportunities that will be available
to them in the future.
By
exposing them to real-life role models, schools can motivate students, raise
aspiration and help young people make informed choices whilst at
school.
Notes to editors
- View the
statutory guidance published today.
- View the supplementary
non-statutory advice also published today, which highlights good
practice and case studies.
- Schools have a statutory duty to secure access to
independent and impartial careers guidance on the full range of education and
training options, including apprenticeships. This was introduced in September
2012 for year 9 to 11 pupils. It was extended to years 8 to 13 in September
2013.
- Going in the right direction? Careers guidance in schools
from September 2012, an Ofsted report into careers guidance published in
September 2013, criticised the previous careers system. The Government issued
anaction plan in
response, as well as the careers inspiration
vision statement, which paved the way for guidance that encourages schools
to work with employers to offer improved careers guidance.